By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers had a chance to get some revenge on the Golden State Warriors after losing to them last week. The Sixers had a strong showing early in this game, but a third quarter explosion led to their downfall. As they just did not have enough bodies to keep up with the deep Warriors who beat them 127-104.

This contest did not start off well as both squads could not put the ball in the basket in the first quarter. The Sixers were able to do just enough to get out to an early lead and held Stephen Curry relatively in check throughout the contest. He struggled against the defense of Jaden Springer who made sure he stuck to him like glue. Springer’s length forced Curry into well contested shots that he missed and only scored nine points in this contest. Now when Curry is held to a single-digit point total that’s a game the opposing team should win. Philly just did not have enough bodies to keep up with the Warriors. Once again the need for a shot creator showed up again and  the fact the Sixers just are not healthy right now.  Even if they were able to get a couple of shot makers into Philly, there just are not enough bodies available to fill out a competitive team right now. The Sixers need a vitamins and an injury specialist more than they need players right now.  The Warriors depth showed up in this contest as  Andrew Wiggins picked up for his superstar teammate scoring 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Philly had no answers for him throughout this game he found openings in their defensive scheme to take and make high-percentage shots that killed Philly in this contest.

The Sixers did all they could to win this game and stay competitive but the Warriors dominated them in the third quarter. They scored 43 points in the period and nothing came easy for Philly in the second-half they could not find the bottom of the net despite creating high-percentage shots off of their ball movement. That’s all the Warriors needed to roll over them in this game. No team needs the trade deadline and the All-Star break more than Philly right now. Daryl Morey has his work cut out for him as he tries to essentially save the season for the Sixers, by making a career defining move ( By three pm Eastern Standard Time tomorrow afternoon)  that will determine whether Joel Embiid even needs to comeback in four-eight weeks.

Philly will now prepare for a Friday Night showdown with the Atlanta Hawks, they will need to stay attached to their man if they want to keep the Hawks explosive offense in check. The Sixers will also need to make the high-percentage shots created off of their ball movement something they have failed to do in seven of their last eight games. The shots need to start falling if the Sixers want to beat the Hawks and avoid the Play-In Tournament.