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Two struggling teams square off when the Philadelphia 76ers host the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.The Sixers (4-16) have lost six straight games, while the Nuggets (7-13) have dropped five of six.Weve got to get a W, Denver guard Will Barton gold Nuggets.com after the team opened a six-game road trip with a 105-98 loss to Utah on Saturday. Weve just got to find a way to put a complete game together.Denvers defense is of particular concern. One night after Houston shot 50.6 percent from the floor and nailed 17 3-pointers in a 128-110 victory over the Nuggets, Utahs Gordon Hayward matched his season high of 32 points, 21 coming in a third quarter that saw the Jazz outscore Denver 33-16 to open an 82-63 lead.The first half and the fourth quarter, the defense was obviously there, but weve got to do it for four quarters, forward Wilson Chandler told Nuggets.com. Weve got to be able to guard the ball one-on-one.Chandler, who comes off the bench, has scored 20 points or more in four of the past five games and leads the team with an average of 18.5 a night. Veteran forward Danilo Gallinari is averaging 16.8, and guard Emmanuel Mudiay checks in at 14.Denver is allowing 109.5 points a game, fourth-most in the league. The Sixers are surrendering 107.8 points a night, which is sixth-most.Philadelphia battled Boston on even terms Saturday night, only to see Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas explode for 13 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter of a 107-106 Boston victory. Thomas became the fifth point guard this season to score 30 or more against the Sixers.You see it time and time again with some people who come through our building, Sixers coach Brett Brown said, and you saw it again tonight. We give him credit. Hes hard to guard.Brown was heartened, at least, by the fact that his team put up a fight, after a poor effort in Fridays 105-88 loss to Orlando.This group has a character I respect, he said, in that they reload after laying eggs.He was further encouraged by the performance of rookie forward Dario Saric, who matched his career highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Brown said Saric, who began the night averaging 8.7 points on 36.6-percent shooting, was a man down there (in the low post) while playing his best game to date.The last five, six games, my confidence was really low, Saric said. This game, when you get the first easy basket or (play) good defense, after that its easier playing.The Sixers rested rookie center Joel Embiid and were without forward Robert Covington (knee) and guard Jerryd Bayless (wrist). Brown said its up in the air as to whether any of the three will play Monday.Denver center Nikola Jokic has missed the last two games with a sprained left wrist and guard Gary Harris has missed the last 11 with a foot injury. Neither is expected to play Monday. Cheap Nike Roshe Shoes . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Nike Roshe Sale Cheap .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. http://www.cheapnikeroshe.com/ . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Roshes On Sale . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap. Nike Roshes Cheap Online . Self was acquired from the Buffalo Bandits in a trade for Alex Hill midway through last season, and made his debut in Rochester on March 16, 2013. MINNEAPOLIS -- For the first time in his 23-year NFL coaching career, Mike Zimmer wasnt at the stadium with his team.With the Minnesota Vikings hosting Dallas on Thursday night, Zimmer was at home resting after emergency surgery to repair a detached retina.Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer took over as the interim head coach, a decision that Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said would be the least disruptive to the team. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur (Cleveland, 2011-12) and offensive line coach Tony Sparano (Miami, 2008-11) each have prior experience as an NFL head coach, but they remained in their roles. Zimmer is the play-caller for the defense, considered one of the savviest in the league, and that duty fell to defensive coordinator George Edwards.The teams flagship radio station, KFAN-FM, reported on the pregame show that Zimmer visited the team hotel to address the players in the afternoon. The Vikings played a video clip of Zimmer encouraging the team during training camp with a get-well-soon message on the scoreboard prior to kickoff. Spielman declined to speculate on whether Zimmer would have to miss multiple games during the recovery, but with the Dec. 11 game at Jacksonville the coach is unlikely to be cleared in time for air travel with his condition.We have to see how his eye responds to the surgery, Spielman said. I do know how intense coach Zimmer is. Talking with him today and with the doctors, as much as he wants to be out there coaching tonight, its in his best interest that we get this taken care of. Coach Zimmer has never missed a game. I know how hard this is on him. I cant express how hard on him it is that he wont be able to coach. But we have to look after his health.Left untreated, retina damage can lead to permanent vision loss . The retina is a thin layer of tissue at the back of the eye. When its detached, the cells are separated from the layer of blood vessels that provide oxygen and nourishment. This was the third procedure the 60-year-old Zimmer has had over the past month.As hard-headed as he is and as tough-minded as he is, we had some pretty significant talks one-on-one, heart-to-heart, on what is important in life and what isnt, Spielman said. I think after we met, I expressed to him sspecifically that potentially going blind in one eye is not worth one game in the NFL.ddddddddddddZimmer, who got his start in the NFL as an assistant with the Cowboys in 1994 and spent 13 years with the organization, has yet to face Dallas in the regular season as a head coach . The Vikings and Cowboys played last year in the preseason.Zimmer first experienced trouble with his right eye a couple of days before the Oct. 31 game at Chicago and scratched the eye inadvertently during that game. That prompted team doctors to send him for further examination, which revealed a torn retina. He had surgery Nov. 1 and another one Nov. 8, which left his eye noticeably red. It had cleared up significantly in recent weeks, though, and Spielman said Zimmer wasnt expected to need further treatment.But the coach suddenly complained of vision problems during a walk-through practice with the team Wednesday afternoon, and head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman drove Zimmer to seek medical attention. Spielman said the latest diagnosis was a detached retina.After first revealing the issue at his Nov. 2 news conference, Zimmer said hed been watching film with his good eye and using reading glasses to write down notes in preparation for that weeks game. With the Vikings mired in a slump with five losses in the last six games, the hard-nosed Zimmer sure hasnt appeared to back off his approach in the desire to help the team get back on track and catch up in the NFC playoff chase. Zimmer mentioned recently hes been arriving at his office even earlier than usual, around 4:15 a.m.Spielman dismissed the theory that Zimmers setback this week was related to pushing too hard after the first two procedures.Whether the situation was the sudden death of his wife, Vikki, when he was the defensive coordinator for Cincinnati in 2009, the kidney stones he had removed in 2014 or the death of his father, Bill, during the 2015 preseason, Zimmer had never missed a game until now.Its not worth the risk, Spielman said. And were looking out for the long-term of his health.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '