The Philadelphia 76ers was complete again on Saturday night, when Ben Simmons was returned to the team after an absence from a game due to injury. The All-Star guard had an immediate impact and the Sixers managed a 124-108 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at home.
Joel Embiid once again led Philadelphia on the scoreboard with another monstrous game of 33 points and nine rebounds, Tobias Harris added 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, but Simmons had a big impact on both ends of the court and made 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
Another important factor in the win was getting 11 points from Seth Curry with Danny Green also adding 11, and Shake Milton had 15 points off the bench with Furkan Korkmaz adding 13.
Here are the three observations of this victory:
The Ben Simmons effect
It’s very simple. Simmons makes this team flow on the offensive side. On Thursday, the team was unable to produce an open look to save his life and in this, they had many open looks just for the attention that Simmons attracts night after night. There was a particular possession of the ball in the first quarter in which he drove, attracted several Nets defenders and found Green for an open triple. This was not happening on Thursday.
Simmons was also able to create some open looks for Curry, which is very important because he has been fighting in the last few games since his return from COVID. There was a play in the third quarter in which Simmons once again attracted a lot of attention and he was able to kick out for an open Curry for a triple. That was what the team lacked against Portland. A guy who can make his teammates better the way he can.
Best defensive effort
The Nets are one of the most explosive offensives in the league and the Sixers did a pretty solid job against them, the Nets just got a lot of hits. It definitely helped that they had Simmons back on the defense team, but there seemed to be more energy on that end of the court. Of course, it has to be a thing every night and not just because they had their leader back on the track, but this was a very positive night.
The extent to the end of the third quarter was especially impressive, as they took full control of the game. The game was tied at 79 and the Sixers then crashed and finished the fourth with a 23-7 run to take a 102-86 lead to the third. Brooklyn did not get a clean look and made six twists, which led Philadelphia to score 12 points on the counterattack to take control. Furthermore, Simmons’ defense against Nets star James Harden was impressive at that time.
Two-person game between Embiid and Curry
This has been something that continues to grow, but the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop game between Embiid and Curry continue to make progress. There were some moves in the first half when the two worked on a pick-and-pop game perfectly and this is something that will continue to be a great benefit to the attack. Curry’s ability to handle the ball was a great advantage for this team. It also helped that he finally managed to throw some 3-point points.
The fact that the Sixers now have several ball handlers to whom they can turn will be of great help in the future. Now it adds versatility to the attack, as there have been a few times when Simmons has been reported, something that coach Doc Rivers has been working with. They are not able to do this if they do not have a large number of ball handlers on the list.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!