Doc Rivers Says Sixers Considered Sitting Seth Curry vs. Suns

The Philadelphia 76ers took on a tough Phoenix Suns team on Tuesday night. Coming into South Philly, the Suns led the Western Conference with an extremely

The Philadelphia 76ers took on a tough Phoenix Suns team on Tuesday night. Coming into South Philly, the Suns led the Western Conference with an extremely impressive 43-10 record. 

Although the Sixers got quality minutes from guys such as Joel Embiid (34 points) and Tobias Harris (30 points), they needed much more from their starters to close out Tuesday's game with a victory.

One starter, in particular, had an unusually off night. Sixers starting guard Seth Curry has been one of the team's most reliable players this season on the offensive end. Going into Tuesday's game, Curry has averaged 15 points while shooting 49-percent from the field and 40-percent from three.

Lately, Curry's been battling several minor setbacks. First, he was dealing with ankle soreness. Then, Curry was diagnosed with back spasms. While Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned last week that Curry's two nagging setbacks shouldn't limit the veteran guard's minutes, the team nearly shut him down on Tuesday night.

Through the first half of action, Curry checked in for 15 minutes. He struggled mightily from the floor as he missed all five of his shots from the field, three of which came from beyond the arc. After the game, Doc Rivers mentioned that the team considered giving Curry the rest of the night off. However, Curry convinced them to allow him to stay on the floor for the second half.

"We contemplated [shutting him down] at halftime because he wasn't moving well at all," said Rivers. "Not only just offensively, but defensively, you could just tell. He was reaching a lot. That was a tough one because I really thought at halftime, I thought maybe we should sit him and let him get right, and we kinda let him talk us into it."

After the game, Rivers regretted not sticking with his gut feeling. "Those are the ones you wish you could have back because I don't think he served any purpose being out there tonight with that," Rivers continued.

Curry didn't redeem himself in the second half. In a little under 11 minutes, the veteran shot just 1-4 from the field, knocking down one of his three attempted threes. He finished the night with three points, shooting 11-percent from the field. Curry also had five fouls and was a minus-nine on the stat sheet.

While the veteran sharpshooter hasn't looked so hot lately, Doc Rivers doesn't seem worried. With the next couple of days off, the Sixers' head coach believes Curry should get enough time to rest and get refreshed before the Sixers host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.