Doc Rivers Sounds Off on Seth Curry’s Performance vs. 76ers

In the past, Brooklyn Nets guard Seth Curry has proven to be a revengeful player. During his first season as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, Curry had a standout performance against the Dallas Mavericks, the organization that traded him to Philadelphia.

After the game, Curry mentioned that Dallas made a bad business decision by sending him packing. Fast forward to November of 2022, and Curry admitted that he had similar added motivation when he faced the Sixers for the first time last season after getting traded to Brooklyn.

While the idea of getting revenge against the Sixers is no longer fresh in Curry’s mind, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers felt there had to be some added fuel for the veteran guard, as the veteran guard's success from the field frustrated the head coach.

“I wanted to just smack him,” Rivers joked. “I was going to go over and see my grandkids on Sunday, and now I’m re-thinking that now from that performance.”

From start to finish, Curry had an impact on Wednesday’s game. Coming off the bench in the first quarter, Curry drained three of his four shots from the field, scoring ten points in his first six minutes of action.

In the second quarter, Curry tacked on six more points in his next nine minutes on the floor. While leading Brooklyn’s bench through the first half with 16 points, Curry had plenty of gas left in the tank for the second half, and he was key for a late Brooklyn run, which nearly resulted in a comeback win.

During the third quarter, Curry picked up six minutes of playing time. Although he didn’t attempt a three, he knocked down two shots and went 2-2 from the charity stripe, scoring six more points. In the final quarter, Curry was left on the court for the entire period. He hit on four shots, two of which came from beyond the arc. Curry scored ten of Brooklyn’s 35 fourth-quarter points.

All jokes aside, Rivers praised his former player and son-in-law for his performance on his former home court on Wednesday night.

“He was great,” Rivers continued. “He made every shot because you know that’s how players are. When they come back and play against teams that they were playing for — no matter if it was a good trade, bad trade — they want to kill you, and he did that tonight. So, I get that.”

Curry finished the game with a game-high of 32 points in 34 minutes. He knocked down 70 percent of his threes and nearly helped the Nets complete a double-digit comeback. However, Rivers and the Sixers sealed the deal and snagged their sixth-straight win with a 137-133 victory.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.