Warriors vs 76ers Recap Round-Up: Philadelphia Gets Speights’d

warriors vs 76ers recap (Photo: LetsGoWarriors.com Instagram account)

ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry came out a bit sloppy but effective. Then Marreese Speights entered and hit jumper after jumper.

With a cortisone shot a few days ago to address a left shoulder strain, David Lee returned to the lineup, in which Jermaine O’Neal was unavailable again due to inflammation in the surgically repaired right wrist, and Lee regained his touch, logging 13 points and 13 rebounds in 30 minutes. Six Warriors scored in double-figures, with Harrison Barnes performing well in consecutive games, going 5-for-9 for 11 points from the field.

Draymond Green got the start at the other frontcourt position in place of Andrew Bogut and recorded a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, playing solid defense once again against a taller Thaddeus Young.

In walloping the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-80, the first 8 Warriors off the bench posted double-digit pluses in the +/- category. Golden State’s lead got up as high as 49. There were three times in the game when the Warriors had doubled up the Sixers on points.

Ironically, on Wilt Chamberlain bobblehead night, the Warriors won by 43 points. Back on November 9, 1961, Chamberlain scored 55 points en route to a 43-point victory for the then Philadelphia Warriors over the Syracuse Nationals.

Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:

After wobbling through his first 51 games with the Warriors, Marreese Speights was the most dominating player on the floor during his team’s 123-80 romp over Philadelphia on Monday night.
.
Speights came into the game averaging 5.6 points on 31.8 percent shooting, but he needed only about 3 1/2 minutes of playing time to surpass his season average on his way to a career night that verged on the absurd.
.
The 6-foot-10, 255-pounder, who had scored double-digit points just eight times all season and had grabbed at least eight rebounds only four times, went for 32 points on 12-for-15 shooting with eight rebounds in 26 minutes.
.
“It was like being at a great rock concert,” Warriors power forward David Lee said. “It was like being at some fantastic event: watching his barrage of interior and exterior (shots), the moves, the creativity.”

Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News:

It was the second time this season that a Warrior who used to be a Sixer destroyed his former team. Early in the season Warriors forward Andre Iguodala hit seven three pointers on his way to a season-high 32 points in leading Golden State to a 20-point win.
.
The 33-point halftime deficit was actually six points better than the one the Sixers had the night before against the Clippers. In the first half last night, Speights and Curry combined for 12 field goals and 37 points. The Sixers as a team had only 14 field goals and 33 points.
.
Once again, it was that ugly, especially in the second quarter. In those 12 minutes the Warriors outscored the Sixers by 37-12, made 68.4 percent of their shots (to 23.1 percent for the Sixers), snared 18 rebounds to the Sixers seven and outscored them 15-0 from the three-point line.

Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:

“It’s a fun time,” Jackson said with a laugh after the Warriors got a career-high 32 points out of backup big man Marreese Speights with Bogut and Jermaine O’Neal sidelined. “I mean, we are 10 games over .500. Some of you (media) guys haven’t seen that in a long, long time, so keep on acting like you have. We are going to work our tails off and continue to try to be a good basketball team and celebrate how far we’ve come and how much further we’ve got to go.”
.
Speights induced smiles on the sideline, standing ovations in the stands, and even MVP chants at Oracle Arena as the 76ers suffered their second embarrassing loss in two nights.

Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:

The free agent acquired last summer has, on the whole, been a disappointment. Not in this game. Speights made 10 of his first 11 shots and ended up making 12 of 15 from the field. Scoring in most every conceivable way, Speights was serenaded with a chant usually reserved for Curry.
.
“M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P.”

Sarah Todd of SFBay.ca:

It was no surprise to Speights that both career nights were logged while sharing the court with Iguodala. Speights told SFBay that Iguodala gives him confidence and makes him feel comfortable every time they’re on the court:
.
“It’s always special on the floor with Andre. He’s a good friend, a good teammate and he’s always on the look out for me out there.”

For Sights & Sounds from this game, click here.

Follow @poormanscommish