Everybody knows how talented Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is. The veteran out of Davidson is probably the best shooter the game of basketball has ever seen, and he put that on display again in a 116-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday in the Bay Area.
Curry finished with 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting, and he knocked down six 3s on 11 attempts. He makes life tough for every opponent; he can knock down any 3-pointer under duress and make it look so easy.
The Sixers started Matisse Thybulle on Wednesday and challenged him to defend Curry. The third-year guard out of Washington did an admirable job, but Curry got the best of him plenty of times.
“It’s hard when you have got Steph Curry as your assignment because I can’t help,” said Thybulle. “There’s not much I can do besides try and guard him and they have so much firepower, it made it so I couldn’t impact the game as much as I wanted to, and to their credit they’re smart. They use him well to complement everyone else on the court.”
To Thybulle’s point, Curry made everyone around him better. While he finished with the 25, Andrew Wiggins added 19 points, and Jordan Poole had 17. Reserves Juan Toscano-Anderson and Otto Porter Jr. scored in double figures.
Thybulle learned from his matchup with Curry as he continues his development. He is already an elite defender, but facing Curry is on another level.
“For my own personal match up just the level of focus that is necessary because with a guy like him, he’s just a dynamic player with the ball and without so just for me, it was a challenge and this I knew that going into it,” Thybulle added. “To just to stay locked in and not, because he has this ability to lull guys to sleep and then this burst of speed and all of a sudden, he is wide open shooting 3s.”
Facing Curry can bring out the best in Thybulle.
“I was excited for the challenge,” he finished. “Obviously, I want to do better than I have done, but every time I step out onto the court it is a learning experience. Good or bad. Obviously, with a loss, there’s a little bit more to learn than sometimes with a win so I definitely have a lot to gain from this game.”
The Sixers will return home after the six-game road trip to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
