Whenever the Denver Nuggets face off against the Philadelphia 76ers, it always feels like something extra is in the air. Similar to when the Lakers face off against the Clippers, or the Thunder face off against the Spurs, there's an extra level of animosity.

Unfortunately for the Philadelphia 76ers, they were incredibly shorthanded in their battle against the Nuggets. Fortunately for the Denver Nuggets, they took major advantage of that and decimated Philadelphia with a final score of 124-96.

While there were many things to be proud of in the win against the 76ers, Nikola Jokic had one specific thing he was proud of.

"Just how professional we were," Jokic said after the game. "We did what we were supposed to do."

Five different Nuggets players scored in double digits against the Philadelphia 76ers, with Jokic surprisingly being the only starter who didn't score in double digits. In 25 minutes on the court, Jokic put up a final stat line of 8 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds on 4/7 shooting from the field.

He and Jamal Murray actually took the fewest shots out of any Nuggets starters on the court. Tuesday night was clearly a game for the other members of the Nuggets to step up, and that's exactly what they did against the shorthanded 76ers - something that Jokic himself was proud of.

"Yeah, like I said, we have lost a game like this in the past, we didn’t take it serious," Jokic admitted. "I think we were just professional. Everybody played well, everybody contributed, and we got an easy win."  

Fresh off a heartbreaking, unserious loss against the Los Angeles Lakers recently, Jokic isn't wrong in his words. Otherwise, the Nuggets wouldn't be the fifth seed and also tied for the sixth seed in the Western Conference.

On Wednesday night in a back-to-back, the Denver Nuggets have to take on the lowly Memphis Grizzlies. They have a relatively easy schedule over the next eight games, only facing two decent competitors in that span in the form of the Toronto Raptors and the Phoenix Suns. Realistically, there is a scenario where the Denver Nuggets could win all eight straight.

After that stretch, the Denver Nuggets only have five games left in the season - with matches against the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the San Antonio Spurs.

The Nuggets truly have a difficult final five games of the season; however, both the Spurs and the Thunder could be playing for nothing by that point with how far ahead they are in the standings. At the same time, there's always a possibility that those two teams could have something to play for. One thing is for sure, though, the Nuggets will definitely have something to play for during the remainder of their schedule.