Philadelphia @ Golden State preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 14, 2017 ) Philadelphia 104, Golden State 106

The Golden State Warriors don't even need their full complement of superstars on the floor to destroy opponents anymore, though they're happy to have them all together. The Warriors expect to get Kevin Durant back when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Durant (thigh) sat out against Minnesota on Wednesday and Golden State still cruised to a 125-101 win behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. "I actually kind of like these games when we have to sit somebody, in a weird way," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "It's good for our team. We're lucky we are in a position where we have so much talent that we can afford to miss one of our main guys and still be able to compete at a high level." The 76ers aren't at the same level as Golden State yet but are dealing with higher expectations thanks to an exceptionally talented young core and watched a five-game winning streak come to an end with a 109-108 loss at Sacramento on Thursday. "It's a tough one, for sure, but it's a lesson," small forward Robert Covington told reporters. "We're going to go back and watch the small things, and what we're going to do is learn from the mistakes, fix them, and then move on to the next one."

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)

ABOUT THE 76ERS (6-5): Philadelphia is happy to finally be at the point of working on the small things and is starting to believe it should be winning tight games. "We had been doing well closing out games," 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters after the loss to the Kings. "That's part of young guys learning how to play smarter, and how to execute better when it matters most." One of those young guys is center Joel Embiid, who missed a potential game-winning jumper but finished with 22 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and three blocks after sitting out the opener of the trip at Utah.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (9-3): Curry is averaging 25.4 points and 6.5 assists and flirted with a triple-double on Wednesday -- totaling 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists -- which prompted a reporter to ask teammate Draymond Green if Curry was "peaking." "I've seen crazier. However, he's been playing well," Green said of Curry, who won back-to-back MVP Awards and was voted to the award unanimously in 2015-16. "But, yeah, I've seen him do way more. Peaking? That's just ridiculous." The Curry-led Golden State offense is leading the NBA in scoring (119.1 points), assists (31) and field-goal percentage (51.6).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Covington is 20-of-37 from 3-point range in the last four games.

2. Warriors PG Shaun Livingston (knee) left Wednesday's game and is day-to-day.

3. Golden State took the last eight in the series.

PREDICTION: Warriors 121, 76ers 111