The Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers squared off on Tuesday night in each team’s final game before the trade deadline. It was a battle of the role players and the backups, as both teams were [missing big stars](/warriors-injury-report/108128/warriors-76ers-injury-report-steph-curry-joel-embiid): while Draymond Green took the court for the Dubs and Tyrese Maxey for the Sixers, the game was devoid of Steph Curry (runner’s knee), Jimmy Butler III (ACL tear), Joel Embiid (injury management), and Paul George (league suspension).
Philly has been the better team this year, and Maxey is orders of magnitude better than anyone the Warriors have when Curry is in street clothes. And all of that showed in a 113-94 win for the Sixers, with Golden State simply looking like a third tier team.
The first quarter was entertaining, and the ball flowed exceptionally for the Warriors, even without Curry on the court. Better yet, they were red-hot from deep, and did it in a floor-stretching manner: starting center Al Horford went 2-for-2 on threes in the frame, with both occurring early on, while his replacement, Quinten Post, also went 2-for-2 from distance, with his coming at the end of the quarter. On the whole, the team shot a deadly 8-for-14 from deep, and closed a delightfully fun quarter with a 32-31 lead.
But in the second, the Sixers started to show where they could — and eventually would — have an advantage. Philadelphia was destroying Golden State in the paint, both in the half-court and with transition opportunities, and they were feasting on a Warriors offense that once again struggled with turnovers. As a result, the 76ers opened the quarter with a 10-0 run (which was a 14-0 run spanning the two frames), and suddenly it was a one-sided game. The Sixers would push the lead to 15 by the halfway mark, but the Warriors had a response.
Led by tremendous energy from Gui Santos and Buddy Hield, the Warriors punched back with a 10-0 run of their own, and soon that turned into a game-tying 17-2 run as they were styling on the Sixers. Just like that, it was a game again, and the Dubs trailed just 58-55 at halftime.
That was the end of the good times, unfortunately. The third quarter couldn’t have started more poorly, as the Warriors simply could not find a way to score. On their first possession, Green missed a three. Then Santos missed a three. Then Horford missed a three. Then Brandin Podziemski missed a three. Then De’Anthony Melton missed a three. Then Horford missed a running hook.
Finally, after about four-and-a-half minutes, Santos drained a three for their first points of the quarter. That sparked a little rally, as the team started to pull close, but then the went ice cold again. That was compounded by an inability to keep the Sixers from getting easy looks at the rim. After scoring just 16 points, the Warriors trailed 84-71 entering the fourth.
There was no fourth quarter comeback. They had good energy and effort to open the quarter, but it didn’t accomplish much. Turnovers and a lack of defensive impact did them in, as the Sixers pushed the lead larger and larger, until Steve Kerr had no choice but to waive the white flag and let Philly coast to a victory.
The Warriors shot well on the night, going 19-for-48 (39.6%) from deep. But there was a distinct lack of physicality from the Dubs, and the most staggering statistic of the night was that they only shot two free throws all game, compared to 21 for Philly. That physicality was also on display with a drastic difference between points in the paint: 54 for the Sixers, and just 30 for the Warriors. Add in 20 turnovers, and there was nothing in that recipe that was going to result in success.
Santos and Pat Spencer led the Warriors with 13 points apiece, while Moses Moody dropped in 12. Horford, Post, and Melton each scored 10.
The Sixers were strong enough that they didn’t even need to rely on their star, as Maxey took a backseat in this game, with 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Rookie sensation VJ Edgecombe was even better than advertised, filling up the stat sheet with 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and a game-high +27, and somehow looking even better than those stats would suggest. Ageless wonder Andre Drummond had a 12 and 12 double-double, while Trendon Watford had 16 off the bench and former Warrior Kelly Oubre Jr. poured in 15 points.
With the loss, the Warriors fall to 27-24. They get Wednesday off, then visit the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, seven hours after the trade deadline. We’ll see what the roster looks like then.
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