Red-hot Curry torches Sixers
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Stephen Curry conjured a 37-point masterclass as the Golden State Warriors sent the Philadelphia 76ers spinning to a fourth straight defeat with a 119-107 victory in the National Basketball Association regular season on Tuesday.
Warriors star Curry drained eight threepointers in a devastating display of shooting that gave struggling Golden State and the Chase Center home crowd a much-needed lift after the team’s shaky first half of the NBA season.
The Sixers, meanwhile, were left sweating on an injury to reigning Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, who limped off in the fourth quarter after Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell heavily on his left knee as the two men wrestled for a loose ball.
Embiid, who sat out the Sixers’ previous two games with knee and Achilles soreness, had been cleared to play on Tuesday shortly before tip-off.
But the Cameroon-born center was clearly not fully fit and appeared to be struggling to move freely throughout the game. The decision to start Embiid looked even more questionable when he was hurt in the tussle with Kuminga late on. “They’re going to do an MRI tonight or tomorrow,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said after the game. “It’s unrelated to what’s been bothering him, so we’re just waiting on that.”
“Obviously, medical cleared him to play, and Joel was a big part of that. He said he was feeling good.”
Curry, meanwhile, said the Warriors victory couldn’t have come at a better time as the seven-time NBA champions look to get their season back on track.
The Warriors, who were left reeling earlier this month after the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, are 12th in the Western Conference standings with a 20-24 record.