3 observations after the Curry-led Warriors hang 139 points on the Sixers

3 observations after the Curry-led Warriors hang 139 points on the Sixers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers never led and never threatened until Thursday against the Warriors.

Golden State dominated the night, earning a 139-105 victory at the Chase Center.

Stephen Curry was brilliant, posting 30 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in his 30 minutes.

Joel Embiid led the 13-19 Sixers with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Paul George added 19 points.

Sixers missing Kelly Oubre Jr. (left hand sprain), Andre Drummond (left toe sprain), Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery) and KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction). The 17-16 Warriors had two players out injured in Brandin Podziemski and Gary Payton II.

Next up for the Sixers is the finale of a six-game road trip Saturday against the Nets. Here are observations on their loss to the Warriors:

Picking up where they left off in Sacramento

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was essentially forced to use an early timeout due to his team’s very slow start.

Whatever the Sixers’ plans were to make Golden State’s offense uncomfortable, they didn’t materialize at all. Dennis Schröder hit a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter, and Moses Moody’s triple on the opening play of the second put the Sixers in a 38-19 hole.

The Sixers’ display was the opposite of a bounce-back performance after theirs collapse late in the fourth quarter on Wednesday vs. Kings. From the end of that game to Moody’s jumper, the Sixers were outscored 53-19 by their opponents.

On top of the Sixers’ turnover woes carried over from Sacramento, they didn’t make many of the decent shots they got. The team started 0 for 7 from three-point range and had no long-range makes in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Warriors were firing and playing like the relatively well-rested team on a home court.

George’s tendency towards foul trouble also continued. He picked up two in the first seven minutes and switched. Since a zero-foul night on Christmas Day in Boston, he has had four straight games affected by early fouls.

Yabusele is always ready to roll off the bench

Amid all the negatives, Guerschon Yabusele’s play off the bench was a plus in the first quarter.

He scored twice on sharp cuts and led the Sixers with eight first-period points on 3-for-3 shooting. Yabusele has been excellent this season at immediately making something good happen when he checks in, regularly proving more energetic and in rhythm than players already in the game.

For the second night in a row, Nurse opted to use a two-way contract player in his rotation. After a Justin Edwards stint in Sacramento, Jeff Dowtin Jr. played. six scoreless first half minutes. Reggie Jackson, Eric Gordon and Ricky Council IV were the other members of the Sixers’ second unit.

The Sixers and Warriors traded plenty of baskets early in the second quarter with Embiid sitting. Draymond Green charged down the floor and managed to navigate through the Sixers for an easy layup on a particularly low defensive sequence.

The bar wasn’t high, but the Sixers looked a little better on both ends when Embiid came back. He did his usual damage scoring against anyone in front of him and drew heaps of fouls (11 for 14 at the free throw line).

Big-time clunkers to finish back-to-back

The Warriors led by 16 points at the half and pushed their advantage over 20 early in the third quarter.

Curry fired jumpers like the consummate shooter he is Thursday, going an incredible 8 for 8 from three-point territory. Golden State was 22 for 39 overall.

There is always something about the hat that is appropriate when facing a curry-centric team. But the Sixers’ defensive activity and level of focus never seemed nearly enough to overcome such a large deficit. They were relaxed stopping the ball, tracking cutters and rotating out to shooters. The Warriors scored 13 more points than any Sixers opponent has in a game so far this season.

That kind of poor performance occurs over a long season. The situation was challenging for players like Tyrese Maxey, who played 42 minutes the night before and went 4-for-13 from the field Thursday. Caleb Martin’s heavy minutes load of late — 37.6 per game over his last four outings — was also evident against the Warriors. He had two points on 1-for-5 shooting.

Regardless, the Sixers were undeniably far below par on the factors they had control over. Nurse turned to his deep bench players with the Sixers down by 30 points with just over nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.