The Warriors hung with the 76ers through the first three quarters, but ultimately fell 115-104 to start their five-game East Coast swing.
The Warriors started their five-game road trip with 36 minutes of solid basketball to compete against a Philadelphia 76ers squad that entered with a 21-2 record at home and sitting at fifth in the Eastern Conference.
But the Dubs were held scoreless through the first four-plus minutes of the fourth quarter as part of an extended 76ers run that ultimately was too much for the Warriors to overcome in their 115-104 loss Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
The Dubs were led by strong play from D’Angelo Russell and Draymond Green through the first half. Russell had 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting from distance, while Green was on triple-double alert early with five points, eight rebounds, eight assists.
However, Philadelphia’s Raul Neto came off the bench with a hot hand. Neto, who entered the game averaging 4.0 points on 42 percent shooting beyond the arc, posted 19 first half points on 3-of-4 from three-point range including 15 points in the second quarter. His scoring kept the 76ers ahead of the Dubs 59-54 at the half.
TEAM LEADERS
Despite the competitive play from the Dubs, they had not held the lead since the 9:39 mark of the second quarter. That changed in the third when the Dubs went on a 9-0 run through the frame. The small scoring burst was capped with back-to-back threes: the first came from Russell followed by a Glenn Robinson III trey in transition to reclaim the lead with under five minutes left in the third.
That would be the last time the Warriors held the lead though as Philadelphia proceeded to go on an extended 22-7 run over the next seven-plus minutes of the game, including the beginning of the fourth quarter in which the Dubs were held scoreless, to create the late lead the Warriors were unable to chip away at.
The Warriors’ loss is their fourteenth in the last fifteen games.
Russell finished with 28 points in the game, extending his career-high streak of games with 25-or-more points to five games. In his second consecutive start, Marquese Chriss finished with 15 points to continue his streak of consecutive games of double-digit scoring to four.
After dropping Tuesday’s game to Philadelphia, the Warriors continue their road trip with a matchup Thursday night against another team in the top five of the Eastern Conference: the Boston Celtics (NBCSBA, TNT, 5 p.m.).