Undermanned Sixers outlast Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors, 108-98

SAN FRANCISCO — The undermanned 76ers recorded another victory.

They defeated the Golden State Warriors, 108-98, Tuesday night at the Chase Center without starters Joel Embiid and Seth Curry. The Sixers closed out the game with a 22-6 run.

“I loved it,” Doc Rivers said of the tougher-than-expected hard-fought victory. “Winning on the road is hard. It doesn’t matter who you are playing, where you’re playing, it’s just hard.”

This marked the third straight game the Sixers (31-13) were without at least two starters and the sixth game without Embiid. Ben Simmons joined Curry and Embiid as a sidelined starter in Saturday’s home victory against the Sacramento Kings.

Tuesday’s victory marked the Sixers’ third consecutive win and ninth in their last 10 games. It was also their fifth straight road win. They remain one game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets atop the Eastern Conference standings.

The Warriors (22-22) were without Stephen Curry, the two-time league MVP and older brother of Seth. Stephen Curry has been sidelined since suffering a tailbone contusion last Wednesday against the Houston Rockets. He’ll be sidelined at least another week after Tuesday’s MRI showed inflammation in his tailbone.

The Warriors were also without Klay Thompson (right Achilles tendon repair) and Marquese Chriss (fractured fibula). Thompson has been sidelined all season, while Chriss played in only the first two games of the season.

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The presence of Embiid (left knee bone bruise) and Seth Curry (sprained left ankle) were missed.

Seth Curry did light shooting at Tuesday morning’s shootaround and did an on-court workout at the arena before the game. He could return Thursday night against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center in the third game of a six-game road trip.

Embiid is not currenty on the road trip. He will be re-evaluated at the end of the week. Rivers didn’t disclose a target return date.

“I don’t know,” Rivers said. “I don’t even know what we said. I think we [originally] said we would check [on] him in two weeks. That’s at the end of the week. So we will probably have a better update then.”

On why Embiid wasn’t currently with the team, Rivers said he thought it better served the standout to be at home working out with some of the Sixers’ player development coaches. The team also kept one of its physical therapists back in Camden to work with Embiid. Rivers said the team typically does that.

On Tuesday, Tobias Harris finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists. Nine of the power forward’s points came in the fourth quarter.

You know he struggled in New York a little bit in that game, and so it’s interesting to see how a guy comes off of that,” Rivers said of Harris, who scored 20 points on 5-for-18 shooting in Sunday’s 101-100 victory over the Knicks.

“What I liked about his game tonight he didn’t force it,” Rivers added. “He kind of just let the game come to him, and he made plays not just with a shot but with a pass, played phenomenal defense. That told me a lot about him. He’s in this to win. He’s not in this for numbers, he’s in this for wins and you can see that in the way he’s playing.”

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Harris said he was able to evaluate the game better.

With Embiid and Seth Curry out, the last three games have been a dynamic for the Sixers. So Harris has been trying to pick apart the game the best way possible.

“So I thought tonight we found good action, was able to get the guy that we wanted in some of those matchups,” he said taking advantage of mismatches. “But it was more patience than the other night. Obviously not as many mistakes defensively, we were able to get out. But every game is a game to evolve and a game to get better.”

Simmons added 22 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Tony Bradley had 18 points and 11 rebounds while starting in place of Embiid for the sixth straight game and seventh time this season. He went 8-for-8 from the field.

Shake Milton added 13 points off the bench. Kelly Oubre Jr. paced the Warriors with 24 points.

The Sixers led, 35-17, after one quarter after leading by 24 points in the quarter. They went on to lead 59-45 at the half. But the Warriors were a different team in the third quarter.

Golden State battled back and took a 75-74 lead, as Oubre split a pair of foul shots with 4 minutes, 36 seconds left in the third quarter. The Warriors outcored the Sixers, 40-21, in the quarter to take a 85-80 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Sixers regained the lead on Danny Green’s three-pointer to make it a 93-92 game with 5:12 left. They never trailed afterward.

“They put the clamps on us after we scored 40 in the third quarter,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “They really are a big team. They have size at every position and not just their length, but their physicality of all of their wings. I thought they made a big difference in the fourth quarter especially.”

Sixers center Dwight Howard suffered a cut on the left side of his face, near his eye in the first half. He wore a bandage in the second half.

Earlier in the day, Sixers two-way player Paul Reed was named an All-NBA G League first-team selection. Oklahoma City’s Moses Brown, Lakeland’s Mamadi Diakite, Westchester’s Jared Harper and Rio Grande Valley’s Kevin Porter Jr. joined the rookie on the first team.

This comes one day after Reed was named the league’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year.

Reed averaged 22.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.8 blocks in 15 regular-season games for the Sixers’ NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats in the Walt Disney World bubble in Kissimmee, Fla. The post player led the league with 12 double-doubles and shot 44.4% on three-pointers.

“Playing in the G League really helped me boost my confidence and get better,” Reed said. “The awards, they’re just coming from the hard work I put in and it showed me what hard work takes.”