Player Observations After Sixers Upset Golden State

The Philadelphia 76ers returned to the court on Saturday night following their disappointing blowout loss against the Utah Jazz on Thursday. On Saturday, they

The Philadelphia 76ers returned to the court on Saturday night following their disappointing blowout loss against the Utah Jazz on Thursday. On Saturday, they hosted the NBA'S hottest team, the Golden State Warriors, who entered the matchup with an impressive 21-4 record.

Although the Sixers have struggled to overcome strong opponents lately as they gain their chemistry back, they were up for the challenge against Golden State. Through the first quarter, the Sixers and the Warriors were neck and neck as Philly stayed within one point.

Then, the Warriors managed to pull away a bit in the second quarter as they went into halftime with a three-point lead. As the Sixers came out in the second half with a lot more confidence and energy, they prevented the Warriors from going on their signature third-quarter run.

And when the fourth quarter rolled around, Joel Embiid and the Sixers smelled blood in the water and took advantage of every opportunity that came their way. By the end of the final quarter, the Sixers came out on top with an impressive 102-93 win. Now, let's observe the Sixers players' individual performances.

The Starters

Matisse Thybulle

Doc Rivers elected to roll with Thybulle with the starting group and have Danny Green come off the bench. It was evident that Rivers wanted a strong defensive presence to shadow Warriors star Steph Curry. Although he picked up a few fouls in the first half, Thybulle remained disciplined and played a phenomenal defensive game against Curry, helping the Sixers hold him to under 20 points. Also, he hit two of his three three-point attempts, finishing the game with six points.

Tobias Harris

It was odd to see Harris take under ten shots on Saturday, but it was clear the veteran forward just didn't have the "it" factor to take over on offense in his 34 minutes on the court. Overall, Harris finished the night by knocking down four of his nine attempts from the field. Seven of his 16 points came from the free-throw line.

Joel Embiid

It wasn't a dominant performance by Embiid on Saturday, but he played his best basketball when the Sixers needed him to. Going into the fourth quarter, Embiid was just 4-12 from the field. In the final six minutes of action, Embiid checked in and hit all but one of his shots and went 3-3 from the charity stripe for nine points in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with a team-high of 26 points.

Seth Curry

While he didn't shoot the ball a ton, Curry was quite efficient against Golden State as he made five of his nine shots. Unfortunately, three of his four misses came from beyond the arc, which is rare for Curry. There have been a lot of times this season where Curry helped lead the Sixers in production alongside Embiid, but Saturday wasn't one of those games.

Tyrese Maxey

The second-year guard had himself a solid performance. Maxey took the second-most shots in the starting lineup with ten attempts. He drained 50-percent of his shots and accounted for 14 points. He looked aggressive once again, attacking the basket, which is always a plus for the young guard.

The Bench

Danny Green

Coming off the bench, Green found himself on the court for just 16 minutes. His reduced role didn't help him find a ton of scoring opportunities, but Green did a solid job being the veteran presence on Philly's bench.

Georges Niang

He put up just two shots in a rather forgettable personal performance. Typically, Niang's a big spark for the Sixers' bench, but other guys took on that role for Saturday's game.

Andre Drummond

Saturday was one of those nights where Drummond was a huge reason why the Sixers managed to come away with a win. Going 4-5 from the field, Drummond finished with nine points on offense. He also came down with nine rebounds and was a huge presence on the defensive end. During his 15 minutes on the floor, Drummond finished as a plus-18.

Shake Milton

The backup guard didn't have a great shooting night, going 4-12 from the field. But he was another key reason why the Sixers' bench had a stellar performance as he put up ten points in 19 minutes, leading the bench unit in scoring. 

Furkan Korkmaz

Doc Rivers hasn't given up on the Turkish veteran just yet. While he played under ten minutes on Saturday, Korkmaz is still getting some burn despite his struggles over the past month. During his limited time on the floor, Korkmaz put up just three shots and finished the game with three points. Fortunately for Korkmaz, his one basket was a timely three, which was a plus. However, he still has a lot of work to do.