Steve Kerr: “The 76ers Totally Outplayed Us”

Warriors’ 11-game winning streak has come to an end.

The Philadelphia 76ers showed their true face last night, as they defeated the Golden State Warriors in front of their fans. At the end of the game, the Oracle Arena was silent, and the only happy faces were on the 76ers bench, celebrating their 113-104 victory.

It was their first over the Warriors since Brett Brown joined this franchise, and to make it even sweeter, it was on the road.

“It’s a fantastic win. This group, myself included, we have not beaten Golden State,” coach Brown said. “To do it on the road, to do it in front of their fans against a team that is this good and had won that many in a row, it is a good night.”

He also spoke about Ben Simmons contribution on the floor, saying that the reigning Rookie of the Year played one of the best, if not the best games in his NBA career.

“I thought Ben, in my eyes, had his best NBA game,” Brown told the reporters.

https://twitter.com/BenMallis/status/1091215872360759296

Simmons finished the night scoring 26 points, with an excellent shooting percentage, 10 of 13 from the field, adding 8 boards and 6 assists on top of that.

But stats are not revealing the full influence he had on the game, dictating the tempo of the play and not allowing the Warriors to drag 76ers in their machine.

Even Steph Curry stated after the game that at some parts of the contests, the pace was just too high for his team.

“The pace was so fast, we never really were able to manufacture great looks for whatever reason.”

The two-time NBA MVP was also outstanding today as he poured 41 points, hitting 10 three-pointers.

🔥 @StephenCurry30 knocks down 10 threes en route to 41 PTS for the @warriors at home. #DubNation pic.twitter.com/f75q6lmZ9n

— NBA (@NBA) February 1, 2019

On the other side, coach Steve Kerr was pretty harsh towards his players saying that they weren’t up to the task in this case, revealing the reasons for their loss.

“We weren’t there mentally, we weren’t there competitively, and we got what we deserved. I think they totally outplayed us” Kerr presented his thoughts at the press conference.

Golden State drew the first blood when making a 10-2 burst in the initial period, creating a +11 lead afterward, 23-12. Philadelphia bounced back, and didn’t allow for the home team to create some big gap between them.

Then again, Warriors made a 10-2 series, which secured them the lead at the halftime, 60-53.

After the break, Philadelphia took over the command of this match, demolishing the champion in the third period, 42-26. Simmons and the crew seized the lead, which eventually lasted until the end, despite all the efforts of the hosts to come back.

GSW has one of the best finishes in the league, but last night they didn’t have a solution for well-prepared rivals.

“They didn’t get frazzled by any of our runs,” Curry mentioned at the press.

Besides him, the Warriors had only Kevin Durant willing to compete with the 76ers. KD scored 25 points, but shooting 1 of 8 behind the arc. In general, the whole team except for Curry performed badly from downtown, posting just 28.9%, 11 of 38. Nobody but these two guys managed to hit from a distance.

Joel Embiid also had a good game, with 26 points and 20 rebounds, but with not such an impressive percentages, 8 of 24 from the field, 0 of 5 for three. The Process also had 8 turnovers.

.@JoelEmbiid (26 PTS, 20 REB) & @BenSimmons25 (26 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST) guide the @sixers to the road win over GSW! #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/0w6GORohE1

— NBA (@NBA) February 1, 2019

Philly has one more game on this road trip through the West. It will take place in Sacramento on Saturday night, and after that, they head home. In the near future, six of their seven events will be played at Wells Fargo Center.

That gives them the possibility of improving the position in the Eastern Conference standings, especially since they face direct rivals, the Raptors, and the Celtics during that streak.

Warriors are in a similar situation, with four of the next five matches at home. The first one against the Lakers also on Saturday.