The Philadelphia 76ers will be without center Spencer Hawes when they take on the Denver Nuggets tonight at 7 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center. Hawes has a strained left Achilles tendon.

Sixers' forward Elton Brand said about Hawes

"We are going to need a big contribution, no pun intended, from the bigs," Elton Brand said before Hawes was declared out. "If Spencer can't go, the rookie (Nik Vucevic) is going to have to step up. Tony Battie will have to step up and myself, of course." (via CSN Philly)

Denver has a pretty sizable front line with the following players: Danilo Gallinari (6-10), Nene Hilario (6-11) and Timofey Mozgov (7-1).

Hawes has averaged 10.4 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game this season for Philadelphia.

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