Curry, Embiid provide basketball ‘art’
PHILADELPHIA » Doc Rivers has never been afraid about sharing an opinion, not even in his hometown of Chicago, not even on the most sensitive of basketball topics.
Steve Kerr is never shy about chiming in on any issue, off court or on, where he has seen, played with or coached with some of the best ever to play his sport.
Monday, they shared a Wells Fargo Center sideline, Rivers as the coach of the 76ers, Kerr in charge of the Golden State Warriors. They were there to win, but also to enjoy a moment for the ages.
To Kerr, it would be an opportunity to appreciate the bottomless basketball charms of Joel Embiid, a center like none to ever have played.
To Rivers, it was a shot to watch Steph Curry, who averaged 43.7 points in his previous five games and is the best guard in basketball history, no matter how many would like to shout the Sixers’ coach down down on his childhood street.
“I don’t know what gameplan we’ll use, but I haven’t seen one that has worked lately,” Rivers said. “I don’t know that I have seen anything like the run he’s been on. There’s guys, I guess, who have scored the points in the stretch like he has, but I guarantee there has been no one who has scored them in the way he has.
“I said that to my brother (Grady Rivers), who is older, and is from Chicago. He said, ‘Are you kidding me? Michael Jordan did that every night.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but not with threes.’ His argument was that it is tougher with twos. You can make that point. It may be true. But it has been art watching Steph play as of late. It’s been a beautiful thing to watch.”
Curry was in character Monday, scoring 49 points, shooting 10-for-17 from distance in a 107-96 victory. He re-entered the game with 6:54 left and the Warriors trailing, 82-81. He scored 20 of Golden State’s final 26. The Sixers had no answers and likely wouldn’t have had