Joel Embiid and the Sixers React to Steph Curry's Dominant Performance

When the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Warriors back in March, superstar guard Steph Curry was sidelined due to a tailbone injury. Although the Sixers were shorthanded themselves, they managed to take advantage of Curry's absence and pull off a solid win in Golden State.

On Monday night, the Sixers faced the Warriors again in South Philly, but this time the circumstances were different. Steph Curry might've been questionable heading into the matchup due to a sore ankle, but the former MVP was cleared for action.

In the first half, Curry was flashing his usual star power and keeping the Warriors competitive. Although he had a decent first-half performance with 20 points in 18 minutes, the Sixers were doing a solid job keeping him from going off.

Then, the second half happened. Curry went 1-8 from the field in the third quarter but still managed to collect nine points, mostly from the free-throw line. It was the fourth quarter when Curry really made his minutes count, though.

As he checked in for nearly seven minutes in the final period, Curry fired off for 20 points. He hardly missed as he knocked down five of his six attempted shots from the field and went a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc. In the end, Curry wrapped up the game with 49 points as the Warriors took down the Sixers 107-96.

“He’s been unreal lately,” said Sixers center Joel Embiid in regards to Curry. “He’s been doing a good job of just going out there and just dominating every single game. Like I said, he’s been unreal.” Heading into Monday's game, Curry was named the Western Conference Player of the Week as he averaged 43 points per game while shooting 54-percent from three over the last four games.

On Monday night, his hot streak continued. “I think he’s on a historic run right now,” said Sixers veteran guard George Hill. “He’s making tough shots from everywhere on the floor. He’s playing at that All-Star, MVP caliber level that he’s been playing at many years ago. I like the challenge, and I like the opportunity.”

Stopping Steph Curry is nearly impossible. Unfortunately for the 76ers, they could hardly contain him, though. While the absence of their top wing defender Ben Simmons was notable, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers didn't want to make that excuse because, with Simmons or not, Rivers believes the Sixers just came out flat.

“I don’t think anybody did a great job,” Rivers claimed after the game. “We didn’t do a great job. I thought we could have guarded him differently, but really we were flat tonight. I didn’t feel any energy offensively. If you said before the game they were gonna score 107 points and shoot 44-percent, you probably would have taken it, but when we shoot 39 and only have 96, it’s hard to win a game in the NBA these days.”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.