Sixers Bell Ringer: Seth Curry’s scorching first quarter powers Philly past Thunder

Sixers Bell Ringer regular season standings

Furkan Korkmaz: 1

Seth Curry: 1

After a fourth-quarter collapse against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, the Philadelphia 76ers returned to the road and dispatched the Oklahoma City Thunder 115-103. They were in control most of the night and a number of contributors helped power them to their second win in three tries this season. It’s time to talk Bell Ringer. Let’s get to it.

Seth Curry: 28 points, three assists, three rebounds

For the second straight game, Curry paced the Sixers in scoring and ripped through the bottom of the nets. In the first quarter, he registered 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including six threes, and helped Philadelphia build a 36-26 lead after one. When the Thunder ran him off the arc, he finished inside the paint. While he only added five more points throughout the ensuing quarters, his final bucket, a corner three with under a minute to play, helped deter a late rally from Oklahoma City. The dude has been on an absolute tear since the 2020-21 playoffs began and Sunday was one of his more impressive showings during this stretch, which is lofty praise.

Joel Embiid: 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three blocks, one steal

In his finest performance of the young season, Embiid was dominant, particularly on defense. He walled off the paint, shut down numerous pick-and-rolls and altered many shots around the rim. The Thunder frequently retreated on drives when Embiid was close by and had trouble generating quality looks against him. Offensively, he continues to assume more of a perimeter-based initiator role instead of a scoring role and was excellent in it on Sunday. He conducted the offense, picked apart double-teams sent his way (six assists, zero turnovers) and helped ease the burden for everyone around him as a scorer and facilitator.

Georges Niang: 12 points, three assists, two rebounds

Through three games, Philadelphia’s standout reserve has been someone different each time. On Sunday, it was Niang. He buried three of his four long balls, converted a nifty, spinning and-one, and routinely burned the Thunder as an off-ball scorer. At one point, he spearheaded a fast break and tossed a heady dime to Curry for one of the sharpshooter’s seven triples. Following a quiet showing against Brooklyn, Niang bounced back to provide some versatile offensive juice off the bench.