How has Seth Curry’s COVID-19 recovery impacted his performance? | Sixers mailbag
In addition to questions surrounding Curry's health, will the Sixers look to land an aggressive scorer before the NBA's trade deadline? Does the team's bad losses spell trouble for the playoffs?
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This is the 44th edition of the weekly 76ers mailbag. Each week, Inquirer.com followers may submit questions to be answered.
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Question: Why does Seth Curry all of a sudden stink? He is unwatchable and unplayable, currently. He seems slow, passive and can’t seem to get open for any shots or create his own shot right now. What’s the problem? Aftereffects of COVID? Is he unhappy here? What do you think? — @phillygm711
Answer: What’s up, Gary? I think the aftereffects of COVID-19 have impacted Curry’s play. He told reporters on Tuesday that it has been tough to regain his form since returning from a 14-day hiatus on Jan. 22, after clearing the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
“Some days I feel good. Some days I’m just sluggish,” he said. “It’s like I got to take a nap all day, so it’s weird.”
He didn’t return in Thursday night’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers after colliding with Robert Covington with 4 minutes, 3 seconds left in the first half. Curry finished with zero points and missed his lone shot in 12-plus minutes of action. He also failed to score in Wednesday’s road victory over the Charlotte Hornets, missing all three shots (0-for-2 on three-pointers).
Doc Rivers didn’t send Curry back into the game Thursday after expressing something was wrong at the half. He thinks the aftereffect of the COVID might have had an impact on Curry. Rivers also noted that the shooting guard has looked tired for a while, and that the Sixers need to play it safe with him.
Before the positive test result, the seventh-year veteran averaged a career-best 17 points and shot 59.5% on three-pointers.
Q: I would like to know with the upcoming trade deadline, will the Sixers seek an aggressive scorer? Outside of JoJo [Joel Embiid] scoring, the team is passive. — @Phillyfan4life8
A: What’s up, Philly Fan? Another great question by you. They have to land an aggressive scorer. This team has three glaring needs: Depth at power forward, a pure backup point guard, and an elite scorer from the perimeter.
I hate to be repetitive, but the Sixers need a dependable perimeter player who can score a bucket consistently. Without that piece in the rotation, I don’t see them advancing deep into the postseason, where the game is more focused in the halfcourt and teams reduce the roster. I know Tobias Harris, who’s having an All-Star-worthy season, can get buckets. But the Sixers desperately need an elite perimeter scorer.
Q: Do the poor losses and poor play in quarters correlate to possibly losing a playoff series when ahead? — @bsmallg1
A: What’s good, Bryan? Solid question, my man. However, I think it’s too early to know. I expect the Sixers to improve by the time the playoffs begin. I also expect Rivers to make adjustments.
The poor losses show the Sixers aren’t a deep team. Think about it: They are 12-0 when all five of their starters — Danny Green, Harris, Embiid, Curry and Ben Simmons — play and 4-6 when at least one of them is not in the lineup. The Sixers are 1-6 in games played without Simmons or fellow All-Star Embiid.
That shouldn’t happen, especially to a team with the NBA’s second-easiest strength of schedule at this point in the season.
But again, it’s too early to know if things will correlate to losing a playoff series after leading. Rivers will make adjustments, and the Sixers could tweak the roster via trades or the buyout market.