The Philadelphia 76ers enter the 2021 NBA playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s top overall seed. The title quest for the Sixers begins on Sunday in Game 1 against the eighth-seeded Washington Wizards.
A dominant trio of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris spearheaded the 76ers to the franchise’s best winning percentage (.681) since 2001—the year the club reached the NBA Finals. In order to reach their first Finals in 20 years, the Sixers will need solid contributions from beyond their unofficial “Big 3.”
First things first, Philly must get by the Wizards, who are led by an elite backcourt duo of Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal. With that said, the team’s x-factor in this Round 1 matchup will be starting shooting guard Seth Curry.
Why Seth Curry Is the X-factor for Sixers
Outside shooting (or a lack thereof) doomed last year’s Sixers squad.
In the offseason, the Sixers addressed this glaring weakness, acquiring Danny Green and Seth Curry in separate trades. Both players have fulfilled their duties as reliable outside shooters, but Curry has particularly thrived since joining Philadelphia.
Curry averaged 12.5 points across 28.7 minutes per contest, shooting 46.7 percent from the field (45 percent on triples) and a career-best 89.6 percent on free throws. He started all 57 of the games he appeared in. His strong shooting has helped space the floor for the 76ers, which in turns enhances the abilities of Simmons and Embiid. Simmons is at his best when driving to the basket, while Embiid is nearly unstoppable in the paint in back-to-the-basket isolations.
The acquisition of Curry had the biggest impact on Embiid, an MVP finalist. When the Sixers deployed Embiid and Curry on the court together, they had a +15.2 net rating in over 1,100 minutes—the sixth-best mark in the NBA. That included a whopping 119.1 offensive rating. With the floor spaced, Embiid sees less double-teams and gets covered 1-on-1 down low, where he is virtually un-guardable.
Curry’s shooting has heavily impacted Philadelphia’s winning. In the 76ers’ wins with Curry in the lineup, he averaged 14.3 points and shot 50.5 percent from 3-point land. In losses, those numbers dipped to 8.4 points and 33 percent shooting from deep. Curry’s effective field goal percentage in wins is 64.5 percent, whereas that figure dropped all the way to 42.9 percent in losses. Furthermore, the 76ers went 24-2 in games Curry registered an effective field goal percentage of 58 percent or higher. They were undefeated in games where Curry scored over 20 points.
The Sixers are 11-0 this season when Seth Curry scores more than 20 points
Curry has been red hot to end the season and over his last 10 games is averaging:
14.9 points
57.8% from the field
58% from 3
3.2 made 3’s per game
2.6 assists
4.1 rebounds— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) May 15, 2021
As a result of playing alongside the Embiid-Simmons-Harris trio, Curry has plenty of open looks. He is at his best on the catch-and-shoot situation. In fact, Seth shot 90-for-185 (48.6 percent) on catch-and-shoot 3s, the sixth-highest mark in the league.
The only downside of Curry's game is his subpar defense. As a result, the Wizards are likely to target Curry on that end of the court whenever possible. Simmons will likely guard Russell Westbrook, while Danny Green is expected to defend Bradley Beal, so Curry will avoid those superstars more often than not. Still, the Wizards will make an effort to exploit Curry’s defense and that could play a factor in how competitive this series becomes.
Curry’s offensive excellence undoubtedly outweighs his defensive shortcomings. He will be the x-factor in this series (and beyond) for the title-hopeful Sixers. If Curry makes his usual positive impact, this series end in five games. If he struggles to shoot and defend, the Wizards have enough talent to make this a long series.
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