It looked incredibly bleak in the early going, but the Warriors stormed back in a major way in the second half to complete a comeback of epic proportions in a 124-116 road win over the 76ers on Saturday. After trailing by 24 points at the beginning of the second half, Golden State outscored Philadelphia 47-15 in the third frame to flip the script and put the Dubs in front for the remainder of the contest. Stephen Curry led all scorers with 35 points, including 20 in that decisive third quarter. Kevin Durant added 27 points, while David West came off the bench to score 14. With the victory, Golden State improves to 12-4 on the season.
TEAM LEADERS
GSW
PHI
Points
Points
Curry - 35
Simmons - 23
Durant - 27
Embiid - 21
Thompson - 17
Redick / Covington - 20
Rebounds
Rebounds
West / Green - 7
Saric - 10
Curry / Looney / Durant - 5
Simmons / Embiid - 8
Assists
Assists
Green - 8
Simmons - 12
Curry - 5
Saric - 4
Durant - 3
Embiid - 3
LUCKY NUMBER 47
The Warriors could not have started the game much worse than they did. After jumping out to a 7-4 lead, Philadelphia immediately responded with a big run to seize the momentum, and they wouldn’t stop there. Kevin Durant dunked to pull the Warriors within 25-15, but the Sixers would respond by scoring 12 of the next 15 points to put Golden State in a major hole. By the time the first quarter came to a close, the Dubs trailed 47-28 and had allowed their most points in a single quarter since allowing 48 against Portland in the fourth quarter on November 14, 1992.
Amazingly, however, that wouldn’t be the last time one of the two teams scored 47 points in a quarter on Saturday. Joel Embiid’s layup to open the second half scoring increased Philadelphia’s advantage to 76-52, equaling their largest lead of the entire night. Stephen Curry would immediately answer with a 22-foot jumper, which would ignite an 11-0 Golden State run over the next two minutes.
Another 8-0 Golden State burst capped by a Durant 15-foot jumper cut the deficit to 82-73 with 7:04 remaining in the third frame. Robert Covington sank a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, but back-to-back scores from Durant and Draymond Green trimmed the deficit to single digits, where it would remain until the Dubs took the lead for good. Another 8-0 run bookended by Curry and Nick Young three-pointers pulled the Warriors within one, and Curry’s two free throws with 1:49 left in the quarter gave Golden State their first lead since the opening minutes of the first quarter. Those free throws were part of a 15-0 Warriors run to close a third quarter in which they outscored Philadelphia 47-15. Golden State’s 47 point third marked the seventh time in the Shot Clock Era that two teams both scored at least 47 points in a quarter in the same game.
CAPTAIN CURRY
Once again the Warriors put forth a dominant third quarter, and once again Curry was at the center of it. He accounted for 20 of his 35 points in the third quarter alone, his 20th career 20-point quarter (12 of which have come in the third frame). It was Curry’s highest scoring quarter of the 2017-18 season.
UP NEXT
The Warriors’ road trip continues with a back-to-back that will take them to Brooklyn to face the Nets on Sunday.