The Philadelphia 76ers brought in Seth Curry during the offseason in an effort to add more shooting around the star duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. The two of them thrive on spacing and a proven shooter such as Curry can create it.
The Sixers also like Curry’s ability to handle the ball when the time calls for it. He had to be the point guard on Monday against the Golden State Warriors with Simmons out with a non-COVID illness, and the results were mixed.
He had 15 points and five assists, but he is not the creator Simmons is. While Curry offers more in terms of shot-making, he is not Simmons, and it’s hard to have him be a point guard the entire time due to that being tiring for him.
“I don’t know if I love that, honestly,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I thought he did a pretty good job, but I really think it wears on him as the game goes on. You actually saw that in some ways, and we need him to be fresh down the stretch of games.”
All 15 of Curry’s points came in the first half, and he was 3-for-5 from deep. He missed both of his 3-pointers in the second half, and he also had to defend his brother, Steph Curry, who is on a serious tear in the month of April. A combination of running the offense as well as defending Steph put a strain on him.
“Obviously, with Ben, you don’t have to worry about him handling the ball as much,” Rivers added. “In stretches, yeah, he’s not bad, but starting the game off being the point guard and playing his brother. That’s hard to do. Overall, I don’t mind it, I just don’t like it a lot for him.”
The good news is he is growing chemistry with Embiid and it was apparent on Monday. He needs to be able to run the point guard spot for stretches and there will be less wear and tear with George Hill now in the fold.
Curry’s chemistry with Embiid will be essential.
“It’s been good since he got here,” said Embiid. “Obviously, he’s a shooter so he gets a lot of space playing with us. He also offers us a lot of spacing. We as a team, we can all get better. We got a long way to go.”
While Curry running the offense as a point guard from the jump is not a good look, overall, he will be able to run it for stretches and that offers more versatility to the offense.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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