Quentin Grimes can largely thank himself for the Sixers’ first win since he joined the team at the trade deadline.

The Sixers snapped a nine-game losing streak and Grimes exploded for a career-high 44 points Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center in a 126-119 win over the Warriors. 

Kelly Oubre Jr. added 20 points. Stephen Curry had 29 points and 13 assists for the 32-28 Warriors.

The 21-38 Sixers were down Joel Embiid (season-ending left knee injury), Eric Gordon (right wrist surgery), Kyle Lowry (right hip injury management) and Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery). 

Golden State was missing Jimmy Butler (back spasms) and Jonathan Kuminga (right ankle sprain). 

Saturday’s game was the Sixers’ first since the team announced that Embiid’s season is over.

“I think we’re all sad,” Guerschon Yabusele said. “Joel is a big piece of our team. Just him being around, even when he doesn’t play, his presence with us is really important for everybody. I think it’s a huge loss for us, but everybody has to step up.

“This is basketball. We’ve got ups, we’ve got downs. So we’ve got to all be prepared, all ready to try to cover his role. … We’re going to keep pushing. We don’t want to give up. We want to keep working every day, get better and try to get the most wins possible.”

The Sixers will face the Trail Blazers on Monday night. Here are observations on their win over the Warriors:

Coming off of a 56-point performance against the Magic, Curry scored the Warriors’ first hoop, swishing a second-chance three-pointer. With the crowd’s high-volume reaction, it became immediately clear that many Golden State fans were in the building. 

Curry didn’t cook instantly. The Warriors dropped to 1 for 8 from the field when Tyrese Maxey defended Curry well and forced him to air ball a baseline runner long. 

Of course, it’s extraordinarily difficult to handle Curry’s constant movement. He made a classic split cut off of Draymond Green in the post and drained a three. A little later, the 11-time All-Star pulled up in transition and sunk a jumper that gave the Warriors a 24-19 lead. 

In contrast, Maxey began 0 for 7 from the floor and was scoreless in the first half. Playing through a sprained finger for a third straight game, Maxey again did not have his usual shooting touch. 

“It’ll get better as he goes, as long as he can keep it out of getting hit again or repeatedly for a while,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said following his team’s practice Friday. “Obviously, it’s affecting him a little bit. … He was working on some things today to try to figure out how to release the ball a little differently, a little better. … We’ll see. I think he’s figuring some stuff out.”

Nurse praised the non-scoring aspects of Maxey’s game Saturday but acknowledged that he “turned down a bunch of wide-open threes.”

“Let’s see if it can get a little bit better here over the next couple of days and we’ll see what’s going on,” Nurse said.

Paul George got into early foul trouble and only posted three first-half points on 1-for-6 shooting. 

Fortunately for the Sixers, Grimes and Oubre combined for 35 points over the first two quarters on 12-for-17 shooting. Grimes was shifty in the open floor and ready to fire catch-and-shoot jumpers. Oubre pressured Golden State’s defense with aggressive, well-controlled drives. 

Off the bench, the Sixers used Justin Edwards, Yabusele, Lonnie Walker IV and Jeff Dowtin Jr. Yabusele wore goggles after injuring both eyes in the Sixers’ loss Monday to the Bulls.

“It wasn’t bothering me at all,” Yabusele said after scoring 18 points and going 5 for 7 from three-point range. “I was feeling pretty good and made a couple shots, so I think I’m going to keep it for a little bit.”

Almost everyone chipped in beyond the arc. Dowtin, Yabusele and Walker all made threes early in the second quarter. Oubre knocked down two triples and the Sixers’ lead soon expanded to double digits. 

Grimes nailed a buzzer-beating three to send the Sixers into halftime with a 67-55 advantage. As a team, they made 11 of 16 threes in the first half (68.8 percent). 

The Sixers entered the game ranked 26th in the NBA with a 34.3 three-point percentage. Perhaps they were due for a hot half.

Grimes didn’t cool off whatsoever over the halftime break.

He moved to an incredible 12 for 13 from the field with a fast-break, and-one layup early in the third quarter. When Grimes finally missed a three, the long rebound bounced his way and he drove in for yet another bucket. 

“I’ve had 20-point halves, but in the third quarter I think I ran off 10 or 11 straight,” Grimes said. “I was like, ‘OK, I’m kind of feeling it tonight for sure.’” 

The Sixers led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, but the Warriors trimmed their deficit during a sloppy Sixers stretch on both ends. A 7-0 Golden State run included a Gary Payton III put-back layup and a Buddy Hield backdoor layup. Grimes went 0 for 4 at the foul line late in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth, the Sixers capitalized with Curry on the bench. Edwards threw down a slam, Yabusele hit a pick-and-pop three and George made a mid-range jumper.

Again, the Warriors pushed back. The Sixers struggled to complete defensive possessions and ended up allowing 18 offensive rebounds in the game. George and Maxey turnovers led to Golden State dunks. Payton converted a second-chance layup to knot the contest at 112-all.

Fittingly, Grimes delivered a clutch hoop. His driving layup on Gui Santos put the Sixers up 118-116 and Yabusele canned a corner three next time down.

After a Santos and-one layup, Green was whistled for a foul on a Grimes long-range attempt. He made just 1 of his 3 free throws, but the Sixers managed to maintain their lead. George drained an important jumper with about 45 seconds to go.

The ride to the finish line wasn’t especially smooth, but the Sixers were plenty satisfied with their first win since Feb. 4.

“It’s a big confidence boost,” Grimes said. “There were a lot of games where we were close and should’ve won. This game was one where we had to come together collectively in the last two, three minutes of the game.

“It’s a talking game. If you’re going out there and not saying (anything) to anybody, we could’ve lost that game easily. But we stuck together and stayed tough. … It’s a good win to build on and just keep the momentum rolling.”