The Philadelphia 76ers needed a big bucket late in order to preserve a win. With the team down their go-to guy in Tobias Harris, they needed to go to somebody else in order to put away the Chicago Bulls.
The Sixers called upon Seth Curry who had a big night with 22 points and five rebounds. He put the ball on the floor, drove, and he drilled a tough shot to put the Sixers up 102-98 with 10.7 seconds left. They went on to beat the Bulls 103-98 to complete a 4-0 homestand.
“He’s been incredible,” said Joel Embiid. “His shot-making ability, especially with me struggling all over the floor just shooting the ball and making the normal shots that I usually make, he’s been amazing. You go back to since the season started, and especially the last game, and obviously this one making big shots after big shots.”
Curry ended up shooting 9-for-14 on the night and 2-for-4 from deep. It was the type of performance that earned the trust of coach Doc Rivers to put the ball in his hands and have him go out and make a play.
“He had it going,” said Rivers. “He’s our best shooter, we had our best player in the action with him so they’re gonna give you one of the two. They’re gonna trap him and Joel’s gonna get a shot or Seth’s gonna get a shot or we’re gonna get a ball swing.”
The threat of the ball swing was huge because on a previous play, they swung it to Tyrese Maxey and he drove to the rim for a layup. On the play for Curry, the Bulls zeroed in on the ball swing and it allowed Curry to go make a play.
“We came out with the one play with the ball swing for Tyrese to drive because we felt like they would go help, they did,” Rivers added. “That’s why the second time, Seth got open, because they didn’t want to help. They’re executing.”
The Sixers did not have a great offensive quarter in the fourth as they shot only 7-for-22 in the fourth and the Bulls opened with a 15-2 run, but being able to get that shot from Curry was huge in order to get the job done.
“We kind of stalled a little bit offensively,” Curry acknowledged. “We had to figure out different ways to score. That’s another element that we can add to our fourth-quarter offense just playing some pick-and-roll. We gotta figure out ways to close games a little better and that’s another layer we can add when we need it.”
Either way, with Embiid struggling shooting the ball, and being down both Harris and Danny Green, this was a big game from Curry to get an impressive win over a very good Bulls team.
“That’s what we’re gonna need,” Embiid finished. “Especially with the way they defend me and sending doubles every time I have the ball so I’m glad we’re all stepping up. It’s not just about him. I think the whole team, we got a few guys down, but everybody’s stepping up and it’s good.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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