SAN FRANCISCO – Stephen Curry has been and always will be the torch-bearer for the Warriors' offense. Throughout his magnificent NBA career, the two-time NBA MVP has often done it while shouldering the load basically by himself.
Against the Philadelphia 76ers, Curry went off again and got plenty of help in a balanced display that coach Steve Kerr has been hoping for.
While Curry put together another fantastic night with 30 points and 10 assists, he got a lot of support from his supporting cast that repeatedly came up big and paved the way as Golden State waxed the Philadelphia 76ers 139-105 on Thursday at Chase Center.
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A lot of that came from the usual suspects like Jonathan Kuminga (20 points), Draymond Green (15 points, seven assists) and Andrew Wiggins (15 points), but the Dubs also received significant combined efforts from Dennis Schroder (15 points, six assists), Lindy Waters III (10 points) and Moses Moody (12 points) in what was one of Golden State’s most well-rounded games of the season. Waters and Moody shot a combined 6-for-9 behind the arc.
Coming on the heels of an 18-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier in the week, this was exactly the type of bounce-back effort that the Warriors needed after a dismal 4-7 record in December.
Curry pointed to the Warriors’ season-high 41 assists as an example of how the game flowed for Golden State.
“(That’s) indicative of good ball movement or good organization, taking care of possessions, finding the open guy,” Curry said. “My game was indicative of how we all played, and it was a beautiful brand of basketball. It seemed like everybody who stepped foot on the floor had conviction about what they were trying to do.”
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Philadelphia went into the game with plans to at least try to slow Curry. They packed the paint early and tried to limit his shots. Once the Warriors’ other players started connecting, the 76ers had to change their plans.
“They had to stop being as aggressive as they were on him to start the game,” Draymond Green said. “It loosens them up a bit and then he’s able to do what he do. We all have to make sure we stay that aggressive with that mindset so that we can make things easier for him.
“We make things easier for him, he’s obviously making everything easier for everyone else.”
It wasn’t just the all-around scoring that Golden State excelled at.
Before the game, coach Steve Kerr spoke about the need for his players to do a better job defending the 3-point shot, and the Warriors did exactly that.
The 76ers shot just 9 of 31 (29 percent) from behind the arc while the Warriors hit 22 of 39 shots from distance, their most makes since connecting for a season-high 27 3s against the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 15.
“Needed it badly,” Kerr said, referring to the entire game. “Great night for the whole team. It was a really well-executed offensive game. And we caught them on the back-to-back, which helped but our defense was solid. Great start to the game and there weren’t any let-ups.”