Starting lineup works wonders again as Warriors respond with win over 76ers

The Golden State Warriors have responded from back-to-back one-point defeats in positive fashion, returning to the winners list after a 119-107 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center on Tuesday night.

After declaring that he would commit to his new starting lineup prior to the game, head coach Steve Kerr would have been impressed with the opening five again as Stephen Curry, Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins combined for 86 points on 31-of-46 shooting.

Andrew Wiggins continued his season renaissance and Draymond Green controlled Joel Embiid as the Golden State Warriors recorded a much-needed win over the Philadelphia 76ers

There was a late twist just before tip-off, with Brandin Podziemski replacing Klay Thompson in the starting lineup after the veteran sharpshooter was ruled out through illness. The 33-year-old's absence was a further blow to the Warriors who were already without Chris Paul, Moses Moody and Gary Payton II, while the 76ers were also without a host of players including young star Tyrese Maxey.

The reduction in talent on the floor was evident at times, particularly in a first-half where the teams combined for just 102 points -- a far cry from the offense-driven NBA we've seen in recent times.

After taking just a two-point lead to half-time, Curry led a Golden State surge in the third as the two-time MVP looked to continue on from his 46 points in the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.

Curry had 15 points in a little over seven minutes to start the second-half, allowing the Warriors to open up a 12-point lead by late in the period. Yet despite Joel Embiid being far from his best, Philadelphia wouldn't go away and even cut the margin to three by the time Curry returned with 8:30 left in the fourth.

The short-handed 76ers didn't quite have enough offense though, with the Warriors going on a 16-5 run to effectively put the game to rest. Having been hampered by his knee injury throughout the game, Embiid limped off the floor with four minutes remaining after a collision with Kuminga that led to another Curry layup.

While Embiid was limited through injury, credit must go to Draymond Green who again battled above his size to make things extremely difficult on the reigning MVP. Embiid finished with just 14 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-18 shooting, with Philadelphia actually proving more effective with their superstar off the floor.

Although Curry led the way for Golden State again with 37 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, it was Andrew Wiggins' continued return to form that may have been most pleasing for Warrior fans. The 2022 All-Star had another 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, while also adding five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block in over 38 minutes.

His combination with Green and Kuminga continues to develop, with the latter adding his seventh-straight 20-point game following a 12-point fourth-quarter that gave him 26 for the game. Kuminga took a game-high 19 field-goal attempts, making 11 of them while also providing seven rebounds and three steals.

Each of the five Warrior starters were at least a +10 in the game, led by Curry who was a +26. Dario Saric had seven assists off the bench, but the Golden State bench largely struggled and were outscored 33-13.

The Warriors shot 55.7% for the game, helping them to move to a 20-24 record on the season. They'll now have a couple of days off before preparing for a back-to-back that starts with the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.