Curry’s perfect three-point night and Warriors’ unselfish passing overwhelm 76ers

Golden State racked up 42 assists on 53 baskets and Steph Curry shot 8-for-8 from deep in a 139-105 blowout win

It’s been and up-and-down season for the Golden State Warriors, but Thursday’s game showed the potential of the team’s offense, passing, and versatility. And if nothing else, fans can find solace in not having to root for the miserable Philadelphia 76ers.

Steph Curry shot 8-for-8 on three-pointers on his way to 30 points and 10 assists and seven Warriors scored in double figures in a 139-105 hiding of the Sixers, who seemed exhausted and unmotivated one night after blowing a late nine-point lead against the Sacramento Kings. Moses Moody went 4-for-5 from three-point range, while Jonathan Kuminga scored 20 point on 8-for-11 shooting, with five rebounds and five assists in one of his best all-round games of the season.

Draymond Green had 15 points and seven assists while Dennis Schroder had 15 points and six assists, going 3-for-4 from deep. Andrew Wiggins also had 15 points, with seven rebounds, while Pat Spencer thrived in the whopping eight minutes of 4th quarter garbage time, dishing out three assists and trying to dunk on two guys at once.

Playing with joy, beautiful basketball - whatever you want to call Steve Kerr’s ideal style of hoops was in evidence during the first quarter, when the team made 13 baskets with 13 assists. It helps that Dennis Schroder started off hot, sinking two of the Warriors’ seven three-pointers in the quarter, including the 1,000th three of his career.

Who else was hot? Wardell Stephen Curry II, who made all eight three-pointers he attempted in the game, despite playing with a sprained right thumb.

On the sixth one, Curry pulled up for a deep heat check past a lunging Paul George, and may or may not have called bank.

By the eighth one, the shots were simply ridiculous. The game was too far out of reach for Curry to shoot for the NBA record of nine consecutive made threes.

His passing may have been more precise than his outside shooting, often to the benefit of Andrew Wiggins.

As for the 76ers offense, it mainly consisted of Joel Embiid drawing fouls. It’s brutally effective, and the big man shot TK-for-TK from the line, with the Chase Center crowd cheering every miss. The strategy does get his team into the bonus and opposing bigs into foul trouble, enables the clearly out-of-shape Embiid to rest, but it also seems to grind Philly’s offense to a halt, as the other four players mostly stand around. Through three quarters, the Warriors had 31 assists. The Sixers had 12.

When Embiid completed a three-point play down the stretch for his 15th point of the third quarter, Jonathan Kuminga came back with his own three-point play.

At the third-quarter buzzer, Jackson-Davis rejected Embiid’s last attempt of the game.

As for purported Warriors trade target Paul George, playing on a rare back-to-back, he had 19 points. Tyrese Maxey was held to just 14 points and six assists, while Phialdelphia’s most impressive offensive player was Guerschon Yabusele, who scored 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

Nick Nurse and Embiid unveiled a disrespectful defense involving Draymond Green that Tony Allen would be familiar with. Namely, Embiid pointedly left Green wide open behind the three-point arc, daring the Warriors forward to shoot. It worked to a degree, as Green went 1-for-5 from distance in the first half, but he did have four assists and was a +15 for the half. He pointed at the Sixers bench after drilling one wide-open three and hit Jonathan Kuminga with a lob on another play where Embiid gave him all kinds of space.

In the third quarter, Green had had enough, and simply out-hustled the entire Sixers team with a straight-line drive to the hoop.

Embiid had a rough time of it defensively. While he blocked a few shots, he had trouble staying with Trayce Jackson-Davis, who seemed to exhaust the Philly big man by relentlessly sprinting down the court. Undeterred by a few Embiid denials, TJD dunked on him during the first quarter.

The Warriors had a great start and then fell apart. The 76ers had an awful start, then started to put it together, before losing two in a row. Both have lost guards to season-ending injuries, De’Anthony Melton and Jared McCain, and both should be active at the trade deadline.

What’s the difference? Warriors fans get to watch Steph Curry, and Sixers fans are stuck with Embiid. Thursday, that difference was stark.