Seth Curry is Fully Embracing Sixers Playoff Atmosphere
Philadelphia 76ers guard Seth Curry has never been a player to show much emotion on the court, but we got a glimpse of his competitive spirit against the Wizards on Sunday. After a slow start to the game, he came alive in the second half.
There is one play that happened late in the third quarter that stands out. After coming up with a loose ball, Ben Simmons began to push the ball up the floor. He found a streaking Tobias Harris, who dumped the ball back to a trailing Curry.
Curry let the three go and nailed it, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. As he made his way down the court, Curry turned and yelled to the Philly faithful in excitement.
After playing in an empty arena for most of the season, Sunday was Curry's first real taste of a packed Philadelphia crowd. He, like most of his teammates, fed off their energy.
The playoff atmosphere was in full effect on Sunday. Curry spoke about this increased intensity after practice on Tuesday.
"That's the kind of mentality you have to bring into the playoffs. Everybody turns it up a notch. Just the competitive spirit is obviously a lot different than the regular season," Curry said.
He did not leave out the home crowd when discussing this. Although this is just his first season playing for the Sixers, Curry knows they have become one of the best home teams in the league because of their crowd energy.
"It's just fun having the fans in the crowd and arena again. That home-court advantage is huge for us. We got to play with that intensity throughout the game. Everything is ramped up a notch. You got to embrace that," said Curry.
The Sixers worked hard to secure the one seed to have their home crowd behind them in big games. All the new players are beginning to realize what makes it so difficult for opposing teams to come and play in the Wells Fargo Center.
Kevin McCormick covers the Philadelphia 76ers for South Jersey's 97.3 ESPN and Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @KevinMcCNBA.
