Sixers Bell Ringer: No records for Steph Curry, but a signature win for Philadelphia

Sixers Bell Ringer regular season standings

Seth Curry: 7

Joel Embiid: 6

Tyrese Maxey: 5

Tobias Harris: 3

Andre Drummond: 3

Furkan Korkmaz: 1

Charles Bassey: 1

The first-place Golden State Warriors, led by the early-season favorite for 2022 MVP Steph Curry, came to town looking for a win and a bit of history. The two-time regular season MVP and three-time NBA champion entered the contest just ten 3s away from breaking Ray Allen’s all-time made triples record. All of that context injected some nitro into the stadium in South Philly giving the game a playoff atmosphere from the tip. It was clear from the moment this one started that the Sixers were determined not to let Curry get sizzling. Let’s commence our ritual bell ringings.

Joel Embiid: 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 11-11 ft

Joel Embiid appeared to struggle in the first half. He was just 1-8 from the field by the break and at times looked uncomfortable. In the last game versus the Utah Jazz, he sustained an injury to his chest/abdominal area. It seemed to bug him a tad in the early going of Saturday’s contest. But he still got to the line eight times in the first half to put the pressure on the Dubs.

The second half was another story. The Process went 6 of 8 during the second half to finish 7 of 16 with all 11 free throws made. He managed to find a couple seams in the Warriors’ zone for clutch jump shots.

Steph Curry has generated his fair share of MVP chants from road arenas this season. But the MVP chants were raining down for Embiid by the end of this one.

Andre Drummond: 9 points, 9 rebounds, plus-minus +18

The Sixers bench has been pretty bad at times this season. In this one, it saved the day. And Andre Drummond was out there for a big portion of it. Embiid took a rest with 1:57 left in the third. Drummond entered the game. When he left with 6:22 left in the fourth, the home team turned an eight-point deficit into a three-point lead. The bench mob turned out, and Drummond was balling in a game of the highest caliber. He put some high-level stuff on film against the highest level of opponent.

You don’t usually see Joel sit through so much of the fourth quarter and after the game the superstar credited the bench for a big spark turning this game around. Drummond was 4 of 5 from the floor to go with two steals and a dime and the team buried Golden State when he was out on the floor.

Matisse Thybulle: 6 points, 2 blocks, 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Michael Lewis once wrote a great piece for The New York Times back in 2009 about a player then-Rockets GM Daryl Morey acquired in Shane Battier titled “The no stats All-Star.” Saturday, Matisse was the no-stats All-Star. He was an absolute monster defensively and made it a point to tether himself to Curry’s jersey every second the officials let him.

This was truly a Defensive Player of the Year caliber performance from the humble wing out of Washington. He showed flashes of Tony Allen, Shane Battier, and Ron Artest out there. He blocked Curry twice, something you almost never see happen. And Steph clearly checked the scouting report, because when he blew by Matisse he seemed hyper-aware of who might be trailing him on the play.

The stat that did matter? Curry shot 2-13 with Thybulle on him according to the ABC Broadcast.

Tobias Harris: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 7-7 ft

This one was tough and I could have easily made the case here for Shake Milton as well. Milton only had 10 points on 12 field goal attempts, but was in attack mode and finished with a game high +20 plus-minus, leading that rally by the bench.

But Harris makes the board here for filling up the box score in a solid overall performance. One thing the Sixers want to see more of from the Long Island native is getting to the line and he did that tonight, making the most of each trip. Harris quietly has 20 free throw attempts over his last four games, which is a nice trend.

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