A calf issue for the latter denied fans the chance to see MVP frontrunners Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid as the Nuggets took on the Sixers.
Ireland would have emerged with a hugely creditable draw had goalkeeper Mike Maignan not somehow clawed out a Collins header.
After three defeats in five fights – two by Oleksandr Usyk, the other by Andy Ruiz – Anthony Joshua has been knocked off his perch as one of the three most marketable boxers on the planet alongside Tyson Fury and Saul Alvarez. Victory over Jermaine Franklin, a tough and destructive American, is a must on Saturday at the O2.
Joshua’s only previous appearance Stateside ended in a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr.