© Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
The Curry brothers got after it on Monday night, though as the game progressed, it became much more of a battle between Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid. And Curry, playing at a thermonuclear level, came out the decisive victor, and set another NBA record in a 107-96 win.
Closing down the stretch
There was a moment in the mid-to-late fourth quarter when it seemed like Embiid was poised to take the game over, or at least score or set up a score on every trip for the Sixers on every possession. The Warriors had a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and had lost it, along with the lead.
But all of a sudden, Curry and Green not only snatched the lead back, but expanded it.
After a pair of Embiid free throws, Curry responded with two of his own. Then he followed it up with a deep three cross the 40-point threshold. The next possession down, Green snatched a steal off a poor pass from Embiid, sending Andrew Wiggins down for an easy dunk the other way. Curry came right back with an even more ridiculous three on the following possession, boosting that lead to nine points with 2:01 remaining.
Philadelphia responded with a corner three, as Golden State collapsed on Embiid, opening up the corner and cutting the lead to six.
But Curry is just… he’s absurd. He decided it was time for a dagger.
Folks, that’s what you call a dagger ? pic.twitter.com/4qe8vjqQyz
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 20, 2021
Curry vs. Curry
Seth Curry got the better of his older brother early on in this one, scoring five of the first seven points and grabbing a steal off a behind-the-back Stephen Curry pass and scoring on the fast break. The 76ers opened a very early 12-0 lead, with Seth Curry a large part of that.
He went on to score 15 (6-of-15, 3-of-7 from three), with 5 assists and that one steal on the night. The problem is, his brother is Stephen Curry.
By the end of the first half, Stephen Curry had 20 points. AS you’d expect, he finished with 30-plus points for the 11th-straight game, the longest such streak in NBA history for a player older than 33. The older Curry outscored the younger one 29-0 in the second half. That’s, uh, quite a margin.
Unlike the shootout in Boston, Curry didn’t get the same offensive contributions he got from players like Kent Bazemore, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, who combined for 24 points. Deep into the fourth quarter, it was a low-scoring game, with Curry accounting for more than a third of the Warriors’ scoring.
Curry’s six turnovers were a problem early, but his late, clutch scoring negated whatever went wrong early.
He finished with a ridiculous 49 points (14-of-28, 10-of-17), 5 assists and 3 rebounds. The only thing he did wrong, besides the early turnovers, was choke the 50-point game, missing one of his two late free throws. And this was all on a supposedly hurting ankle.
Looney at his best
A large part of the reason the Warriors were either leading or within touching distance (aside from that early 12-point deficit), was that they were excellent defensively and rebounded perhaps as well as they have all year.
That effort was led by Kevon Looney, who played his best game of the season. He finished with a career-high 15 rebounds, along with 5 points. He and Draymond Green both struggled with fouls, mostly committed against Joel Embiid, who scored 11 of his 28 points from the free throw line. But their relentlessness on Embiid prevented him from completely taking over the game.
Kevon Looney has a new career high with 13 rebounds.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) April 20, 2021