Sixers’ win streak snapped at four games by Warriors thanks to Steph Curry’s 49 points

Another night, another undermanned game featuring the 76ers.

Monday night marked the third consecutive contest where they and the opposing team were missing notable players. The Sixers weren’t victorious as they had been in Wednesday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets and Saturday’s tilt with the Los Angeles Clippers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Behind Steph Curry’s 49-point performance, the Golden State Warriors prevailed, 107-96, in the Sixers’ home arena.

“We didn’t do a great job,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “We didn’t really. I thought we could have guarded him differently. But really, we were flat tonight, [didn’t have] any energy offensively.”

Rivers is right about about the Sixers not doing a good job against Steph Curry.

They did have a bad defensive scheme. The Warriors had a high pick on the defender leading to Steph Curry repeatedly having a wide-open shot. There was no hedging, no pinching to take the ball out of his hands.

Perhaps, Matisse Thybulle would have been a better option to guard him over Tyrese Maxey and Seth Curry, Steph Curry’s younger brother.

The Sixers were also doomed by poor shooting, making just 39.3%.

With the loss, Philly (39-18) saw its four-game winning streak snapped. The Eastern Conference’s first-place team is one game ahead of the second-place Nets with 15 regular-season games remaining.

This game was also marked the Sixers debut for George Hill, who was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-game trade on March 25. But it will be remembered as the game Steph Curry torched the Sixers.

He continued his scoring tear with his 11th straight game with 30 or more points. Joel Embiid paced the Sixers with 28 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists.

But the Sixers were without two of their three best players in Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons.

Simmons, a three-time All-Star, missed the game due to an illness. Rivers thinks the point guard has a stomach virus. “But I can’t with certainty tell you that,” the coach said.

Harris missed his second consecutive game with right knee soreness. Rivers said the Sixers aren’t concerned with Harris’ injury and that his knee is feeling better. Rivers said the team is being cautious.

Mike Scott started in place of Harris at power forward. Seth Curry slid down to point guard in Simmons’ absence while Furkan Korkmaz started in Curry’s shooting guard spot.

Meanwhile, the Warriors (29-29) were without four players.

Klay Thompson (right Achilles tendon repair) has been out all season. In addition to Thompson, James Wiseman (meniscal surgery right knee), Juan Toscano-Anderson (concussion protocol), and former Villanova standout Eric Paschall (left hip flexor) missed Monday’s game.

Unfortunately for the Sixers, Steph Curry, a two-time league MVP, was cleared to play after being listed as questionable with left ankle soreness earlier in the day.

His points came on 14-for-28 shooting, including making 10 of 17 three-pointers. Twenty of his points came in the fourth quarter, where he made 5 of 6 shots, including five threes.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like the run that he’s been on,” Rivers said of his string of 30-point games. “There are guys I guess that have scored the points in the stretch that he has. But I guarantee you there is no one that has scored them the way he has. ... It’s been an art of watching him play as of late.

“It’s just been a beautiful thing to watch.”

Hill was one of the Sixers who defended the six-time All-NBA selection.

The 34-year-old had surgery on his right thumb on Feb. 2, and hasn’t played in a game since Jan. 24. Hill finished with 2 points on 1-for-5 shooting to go with two assists, two rebounds, two blocks, and two turnovers in 17 minutes, 30 seconds.

Hill initially checked into the game with 3:05 left in the first quarter before coming out with 9:26 left in the half of his first stint. He missed his lone shot attempt and committed one turnover during that stretch.

Hill checked back in at the 4:36 mark of the third quarter and remained in until 5:50 remaining in the game. He appeared a lot more relaxed and fluid during his second stint on the floor. He came back in with 1:30 to play before being subbed out for good with 29.2 seconds left.

After the game, Steph Curry spent time with the Delaware state trooper Joshua Morris and a 9-year-old boy, Ra’kir “Rocky” Allen. He had invited the two and guests to the game.

Steph Curry saw a video of Allen, hyping Morris up while playing basketball, calling the trooper “Curry” while holding the trooper’s cellphone and videoing him.

After seeing the video, Morris got Allen’s name and address. After getting off his shift the next day, he bought Allen a pair of Steph Curry sneakers and dropped them off at his house with $50.

“It’s an amazing story with him and Ra’Kir, the little kid that was hyping him,” Steph Curry said. “So I had to show them some love, the love he showed the young man and the impact and foundation that he was sharing. That’s pretty impressive. "

Steph Curry chatted and posed for photos with them after the game. Then he signed his game jersey and gave it to Allen.