A Philadelphia 76ers win (126-119, their first since Feb. 4) wasn’t the only rare feat witnessed by those who tuned in for their marquee matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. In the middle of the fourth quarter, the league’s all-time leading 3-point shooter Steph Curry dunked for the first time in six seasons.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Tyrese Maxey missed a 3-pointer which was temporarily recovered by Guerschon Yabusele. Before the Frenchman could make a play, however, he was stripped by Buddy Hield, who looked up and saw Curry all alone on the other end of the court. Hield hit Curry in stride, and the veteran guard powered up for the slam. He made sure to let the bench know about it, and they were quickly up off their feet to celebrate.
The last time Curry had dunked in a game was the Warriors’ win over the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 21, 2019. It was so long ago that he got free along the baseline via a screen from Demarcus Cousins (who played his last NBA game in 2022) and was assisted by none other than Kevin Durant. Look at the elevation!
Curry’s dunk on Saturday accounted for two of his team-high 29 points. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out 13 assists in another strong outing. All told, he either scored or assisted on 23 of the Warriors’ 46 field goals, but that wasn’t enough as Golden State’s five-game winning streak came to an end.
The Warriors’ defeat to the Joel Embiid-less Sixers was proof of just how important Jimmy Butler has become to this team over the last few weeks. Since Butler’s arrival in a blockbuster deadline deal, the Warriors are 7-1 with him in the lineup, and their only loss was by four points to the Dallas Mavericks.
Butler sat out on Saturday due to back spasms, which coach Steve Kerr said were the result of a hit he took during the team’s win over the Orlando Magic on Thursday. Kerr could not give a definitive timeline for Butler’s return, but was optimistic that it won’t be a long-term absence.
“I hope not and I don’t think so, but you never know what these things,” Kerr said prior to the loss to the Sixers. “But it’s just day to day for now.”
After Saturday’s defeat, the Warriors are 32-28 on the season, which has them in seventh place in the tightly-bunched Western Conference standings. They are just half a game behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the sixth and final automatic playoff spot, but also just half a game ahead of the 10th-place Mavericks for the final Play-In Tournament spot.
