When it comes to Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry, there is only so much a team can do. He is literally the best shooter the NBA has ever seen and he makes it look so effortless night in and night out.
On Monday, he dropped 49 points and he shot 10-for-17 from deep in a 107-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on the road. With the Sixers missing Ben Simmons, the Warriors star made it look easy to lead Golden State to a win.
The Sixers tried a lot of different things like sending brother Seth Curry at him while also trying Matisse Thybulle, George Hill, and others at him. It just did not work at the end of the day.
“I think he’s on a historic run right now,” said Hill. “He’s making tough shots from everywhere on the floor. He’s playing at that All-Star, that MVP caliber player that he’s been playing at many years ago. I like the challenge and I like the opportunity.”
Steph Curry in April (10 games):
40.8 PPG
7.2 3PG
55/50/91%He’s on pace to join James Harden, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant (3x) and Wilt Chamberlain (11x) as the only players in NBA history to average 40 points in a month (min 10 games). pic.twitter.com/je9AUrm9OE
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 20, 2021
Of course, not having Simmons out there made things tougher. The way Curry was able to come off screens and fire it with ease probably would not have happened with a serious Defensive Player of the Year candidate on him.
“Ben’s just so tall, he’s so strong,” said Thybulle. “He makes it really hard for guys to get the angles that they want especially coming off the ball and coming off pin downs, and DHOs, and whatnot. I think he would have been huge for us in this game.”
As a whole, Golden State did not really shoot the ball well. The team shot 44.7% from the floor and they were 14-for-32 from deep. Take away the 10-for-17 performance by Curry, and they shoot 4-for-16 from deep. It was just a tough night against a historic shooter who is on a serious roll in April.
“I don’t think anybody did a great job,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We didn’t do a great job. I thought we could have guarded him differently, but really we were flat tonight. I didn’t feel any energy offensively. You said before the game they were gonna score 107 points and shoot 44%, you probably would have taken it, but when we shoot 39 and only have 96, it’s hard to win a game in the NBA, these days.”
Maybe one adjustment could have been having Joel Embiid up on the screens, but at the same time, that’s what Curry wants. If that happens, he dribbles past him and he is able to get to the basket and create for himself and others.
“You don’t wanna push Joel too high,” said Rivers. “If you watch Steph, he loves bigs high. He just beats them off the dribble. We could’ve done some things. I’m not going to give you my game plan, but Jo wouldn’t have been one, because you don’t want that.”
At the end of the day, one just has to tip the cap and realize who he is.
“He’s been unreal lately,” said Embiid. “He’s been doing a good job of just going out there and just dominating every single game. Like I said, he’s been unreal.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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