Ben Simmons

James Harden Kyrie Irving, Seth Curry will suit up as well. Royce O'Neal, the player the Nets acquired using the Sixers 2023 pick will play. Kevin Durant will ...

And yet the two teams are neck and neck in terms of title odds on DraftKings (+950 for the Grizz and +1000 for the reigning champs, respectively). [We’re at +500 now on that parlay.](https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/leagues/basketball/nba?wpcid=229989&wpcn=Inarticle&wpcrid=Inarticle&wpscn=NBA&wpsrc=Vox) If you like Jaren Jackson Jr. But I’ll nervously pony up for the alternative +6.5 (-165) line that they keep it close. Coming back the other way, Curry’s over 25.5 (-170) feels relatively safe. So I think I’ll take the over (19.5, -180) for Desmond Bane points. And I think with the odds here, it’s worth betting on them to get back on track. [Denver Nuggets](https://www.denverstiffs.com) for first place in the West. We’re hammering the Irving over 29.5 (-105). We’re slating him for 14 or more (-200). ](https://www.libertyballers.com/2023/1/24/23560807/sixers-joel-embiid-james-harden-tyrese-maxey-doc-rivers-eastern-conference-standings)Maybe both teams would argue this was a win-win trade. And I assume that the Sixers are pretty happy with what James Harden has brought to the table recently, if not last season. We’re still patiently waiting to see if and when the Nets trade the Sixers 2027 first they possess for even more help.

Philadelphia 76ers fans will never get tired of booing Brooklyn Nets star Ben Simmons whenever he plays at Wells Fargo Center.

Everyone is well aware of the beef that the two had (or still have), with Embiid basically blaming Simmons for their Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. After all, they wouldn’t want Simmons to get the last laugh. He knows very well he’ll hear those jeers whenever he plays in Philly for the rest of his career.

Brooklyn Nets player Ben Simmons recently partnered with nonprofit organization Operation Warm to provide new winter coats to children.

“Our partnership with Ben and the Simmons Family Foundation these last five years has positively impacted thousands of children,” said Grace Sica, executive director for Operation Warm. Simmons and his foundation, the Ben Simmons Family Foundation, first teamed up with Operation Warm — an organization that manufactures high-quality coats and shoes for children in need — for his inaugural Ben Simmons Coat Giveback event back in 2017. “I love this event and am proud to be doing this in New York,” said Simmons.

Doc Rivers and the 76ers claim they aren't focused on the Ben Simmons drama as they gear up to face the Nets.

Currently, Simmons and the Nets are one game back from the Sixers. After both teams got off to a slow start to the season, they turned things around and climbed up the ranks, getting into the top four. As for Rivers and the Sixers, their priorities are elsewhere.

Since Kevin Durant went down with a sprained knee, the 76ers (6-1) have passed the Nets (2-4) in the standings over the last two plus weeks and now sit at #2 in ...

[76ers are just five-point home favorites](https://dksb.sng.link/As9kz/0wps?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsbook.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D347134020%26wpcid%3D229989%26wpcn%3DInarticle%26wpsrc%3DVox%26wpscn%3DNBA%26wpcrid%3DInarticle&pcid=229989&psn=Vox&pcn=Inarticle&pcrid=Inarticle&pscn=NBA) against the Nets. [Our friends at DraftKings have an enticing player prop](https://dksb.sng.link/As9kz/0wps?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsbook.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D347134020%26wpcid%3D229989%26wpcn%3DInarticle%26wpsrc%3DVox%26wpscn%3DNBA%26wpcrid%3DInarticle&pcid=229989&psn=Vox&pcn=Inarticle&pcrid=Inarticle&pscn=NBA) heading into tonight’s Atlantic Division rivalry game. For much of his time in the league, Simmons has been a triple-double threat. In his first regular season game in the City of Brotherly Love on November 22nd, Simmons put together a complete game of 11 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 steals in a nine-point loss. They peg Simmons’ over/under output at 22.5 for points plus rebounds plus assists (-110/-120). However, Brooklyn has won two in a row on the road in Salt Lake City and San Francisco and wrap up their road trip in Philadelphia with Kyrie Irving on fire. Adams has been a large factor (pun intended) in the league’s best defense and the Grizzlies’ recent eleven-game winning streak. In the night cap, it’s the Grizzlies visiting the Warriors. [76ers](https://www.libertyballers.com) (6-1) have passed the Nets (2-4) in the standings over the last two plus weeks and now sit at #2 in the East. That move hasn’t exactly provided the offensive boost that Kerr expected and they’ll need everything they can against Memphis despite the absence of Adams. Out east, we have the return of Ben Simmons to the city that drafted him, paid him, and then unceremoniously shipped him out. What’s Rivalry Week in the NBA without some drama?

Tonight will be Ben Simmons' first game in Philadelphia against his former running mate, Joel Embiid, in a game with plenty of animosities expected.

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Feb. 10 marks the one-year anniversary of the deal that saw James Harden and Ben Simmons swap teams. How does that trade look today?

After getting so many picks by trading him back in January 2021, it would be quite the outcome to have him return to the team. But Simmons never played a single game for his new team last season, and the Nets were swept by the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The Nets finished 14-11 after the trade, shipping over the No. The Rockets weren't involved in this trade, but surely they were looking on with great interest. Overall, this was still a better deal than the alternative of doing nothing from Nets' side. On the plus side, he has begun to look more like his old self, particularly on the defensive end. After a bad start to the year, the Sixers have turned their season around. He started the year off horrendously and has continued to have problems with his back and knee. But an Embiid injury that limited his availability in the second round, along with a disappearing act from Harden, spelled the end of their season. Harden has looked improved this season, leading the league in assists — he is not yet the official leader because he hasn't reached the [minimum requirement for games played](https://www.nba.com/stats/help/statminimums) — and raising his shooting numbers across the board from last season. That trade was one of the most scrutinized in recent memory and warranted instant grades I also praised the additional pieces, Curry and Drummond, noting that they would give the Nets some much-needed depth.

In their first meeting since he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid made quick work of Ben Simmons. The 76ers defeated the.

Simmons is far from the player he once was, and it's clear sitting out the entire 2021-22 season had a huge impact on his career. He also finished with five rebounds and one block. Embiid, unsurprisingly, was the best player on the court for Philadelphia, finishing with 26 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 35 minutes.

As expected, things got a little bit chippy on Wednesday night as the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Brooklyn Nets in the Well Fargo Center.

For a second there, it looked like Simmons was provoking the fans by putting his hands up and signaling for them to get louder. There’s no love lost between Simmons and the Sixers fans after his high-profile exit from the team last year. The home fans did not appreciate Simmons’ antics and they made sure to [let him know](https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-ben-simmons-gets-harsh-fan-treatment-in-first-battle-vs-joel-embiid-since-trade) about it.

The Brooklyn Nets visited the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday and lost 137-133. Ben Simmons had an uneven game as he faced relentless boos.

He did a great job of scoring the basketball, mostly against Joel Embiid, and he was scoring in impressive ways throughout the night. He did a decent job rebounding, but other than that, he was getting beat off the dribble repeatedly and had to foul just to prevent the basket. Irving did a good job of scoring the ball in the first half, but was nowhere to be found in the second half. He did not shoot much in the second half as Philadelphia made it a point to close out to shooters like O’Neale. He did a decent job on the glass, but he did have some trouble guarding without fouling. He did not shoot the ball at all in the first half, but he woke up in the third quarter.

The Nets are still reeling from star forward Kevin Durant's absence due to a knee injury. Brooklyn fell on the road against a strong 76ers side (137-33) who ...

Brooklyn fell on the road against a strong [76ers side](https://www.marca.com/en/basket/nba/76ers-nets-directo/2023/01/26/02_0202_20230126_7417_7414.html) (137-33) who is now on a 6-game winning streak. Philly fans will seemingly never forgive Ben Simmons for the way he left the 76ers. There were several moments throughout the game that brought back the seemingly scared versions of Simmons. To put that in perspective, the next worst starter was Joe Harris with -7. Ben Simmons has come a long way since the ghastly start to his 2022-23 NBA season. However, with more and more games under his belt, Simmons started putting things together.

PHILADELPHIA — This is what Jacque Vaughn means when he says Ben Simmons needs to play an entire game with force. Not just intermittent spurts of aggression ...

Simmons finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists on five-of-seven shooting from the field. The Nets are very obviously a different team when Durant is on the floor. When Harris fouled out at the 5:58 mark, Vaughn subbed in Royce O’Neale, who had a particularly poor shooting night, left in Yuta Watanabe, and continued to leave Simmons on the bench for the game’s most critical stretch. Simmons finished the third quarter driving coast-to-coast for an and-one layup with 0.7 seconds left on the clock. Then a pair of free throws when he was fouled on a layup attempt. He missed his only shot attempt and refused to look at the rim, often passing out of situations where most other players would shoot.

PHILADELPHIA -- In the latest battle of friends turned enemies, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers took this round from Ben Simmons and the Nets on.

The Nets had entered the night a game and a half back of the 76ers in the Eastern Conference standings and had won two straight after snapping a four-game skid. He scored 10 of his total points in the third quarter. Simmons and Embiid were caught talking by the TV broadcast as the third quarter had been getting underway. It’s just when we get on the court, we definitely want to beat each other, and I love those types of environments and when you come to Philly, we know what it’s gonna be: a lot of chirping, very physical, the refs could be going either which way and we’ve just got to adjust. Five straight points from former Net James Harden quickly broke the tie and a driving dunk by Harden gave Philadelphia some cushioning with less than 30 seconds left in the game. In the end of what turned into a spirited matchup between two Eastern Conference opponents, the Nets just didn’t have the juice to hold off the high-powered Philadelphia offense in a 137-133 loss at Wells Fargo Center.

The Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn broke down what the goal for Ben Simmons is after Wednesday's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Did you try to get to the paint this entire group? I’m seeing flashes, I think we’re all seeing flashes, we just want him to keep it up, keep up the good work.” We just want to continue to hammer home that our best team effort is when we’re all playing well and staying aggressive and just taking shots that the defense is giving us." For Brooklyn, the team wants Simmons to play with force on each possession. “Just don’t lose confidence in him and look him eye to eye and just hold him accountable. Welcomed with roaring boos when he stepped foot on the Wells Fargo Center in front of his former fanbase, it took a while for Simmons to become aggressive.

In the third quarter against Joel Embiid and the 76ers, Ben Simmons provided the kind of lift the Nets have been seeking from him all along.

Where you feel him on both ends of the floor and he imposes his will and has an impact on every single possession, which he has the ability to do. And he remains outwardly confident that Simmons will return to a higher level of play in the second half of the season. "And look him eye to eye and just hold him accountable. in terms of Ben, we just want him to continue to be aggressive and when he figures it out, he figures it out. "Encouragement can look many different ways, we just want to continue to hammer home that our best team effort is when we're all playing well and staying aggressive and just taking the shots that the defense is giving us ... "And just because you played the first half doesn't mean you're going to play the second half. The Nets have repeatedly stood behind Simmons publicly, dating back to last season, when he wasn't able to play because of a back injury sustained before being traded from the Sixers. Ben showed more ability to play with force in the second half, which paid off, which is what we need, which was great for our team." He has shown that he still has the ability on both ends of the floor to be a difference-maker for a team with championship aspirations. In the first half Wednesday night in his first game against former teammate Embiid since he was traded, Simmons struggled to find a rhythm. But he has also shown to be far from the player he was for the 76ers alongside But when reading between the lines of Vaughn's commentary recently, it's clear that he would like to see more from the max-contract big man.

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid faced each other as opponents for the 1st time in an NBA game on Wednesday before a raucous sellout crowd in Philadelphia.

It was the sixth consecutive victory for Philadelphia and it kept the 76ers in sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference ahead of the [Milwaukee Bucks](/nba/team/_/name/mil/milwaukee-bucks). Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said Simmons was benched to give Brooklyn more shooting and spacing on the court. So, we're just going to keep supporting him and just him to continue to do that." "He just made a choice to put his head down, be aggressive for our team, and we need him to do that. It is specifically remembered for Simmons passing up an open dunk in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. That day -- Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the 76ers and the "I thought the team overall did," Rivers said. "We got caught up in all the crap going on tonight. Someone without any context about Wednesday's game would have understandably been mistaken for believing it, too, was a playoff contest. If I get doubled, make the right pass, but if I get played one-on-one, or I see an opportunity to go score, I'm going to go score." "It was hilarious. That's when I turned to our coaches and said, 'This is a boxing crowd tonight.

Embiid and Simmons played against each other for the first time since their fallout as an All-Star tandem and the blockbuster trade that swapped Simmons for ...

Rivers hopes that, by then, “the air out will be out of the balloon, as far as us against them.” Maxey scored 16 of his 27 points in the first half by going 4-of-5 from three-point distance, including two that dropped in thanks to a “shooter’s bounce” that had him skipping to the other end of the floor in celebration. And when Durant, who was live-tweeting his game commentary, called the gesture “trash,” Embiid responded by quote-tweeting Durant’s post with #suckit and a video compilation of him and others doing the celebration. I got fouled and I threw the ball. They mockingly cheered when, after an awful first half in which he had more fouls (three) than points (zero) or field-goal attempts (one), he finally made his first shot in the third quarter. Then, Simmons did not play down the stretch. “You want to have intensity and emotion,” Rivers said. “I got the ball. It took less than two minutes for a Brooklyn Nets defensive switch to place Ben Simmons in front of Joel Embiid with the ball in his hands. “But I do think now we can get back to the regularly scheduled programming.” The Nets (29-18), who navigated Durant’s offseason trade request and Kyrie Irving’s suspension for posting a movie with antisemitic content on his social media, used a 12-game winning streak to push into the top half of the Eastern Conference playoff standings. The Sixers-Nets saga following the blockbuster trade to flip an absent Simmons and a disgruntled James Harden finally hit perhaps its most important benchmark Wednesday night.

Joel Embiid reacts to facing his former teammate, Ben Simmons after the Philadelphia 76ers knocked off the Brooklyn Nets.

Ben Simmons was benched for the final nine minutes of the Brooklyn Nets' 137-133 loss to the 76ers as the Australian was relentlessly booed by the ...

Maxey had 27 points and Embiid scored 26 on subpar six-for-18 shooting for the Sixers (31-16). Ben showed ability to play with more force in the second half, which paid off, which is what we need.” But they couldn’t get over the hump, and gave an 8-2 run right back. Just because you play the first half doesn’t mean you’re going to play the second half. Irving added 30 points and 10 assists. “It was hilarious. “I’mma change his name to Ben Perkins, he had the same stat lines as me. “So if you’re thinking about being aggressive, you will be aggressive. He averaged about 10 drives per game in becoming a three-time All-Star in a Philly jersey. It’s amazing how (he) goes from an all-NBA player to an enforcer now, that’s what he’s been. If you think about being a good teammate, you’ll be a good teammate. [Now] he’s about 3.5 drives per game and it’s hard to watch.

It didn't take long for Sixers fans to get the matchup they wanted, and as they had hoped, the Sixers emerged triumphant, even if Joel Embiid did not have a ...

Ben Simmons!” But the Sixers fans caught on quickly and chanted “Sucks!” in response to the Nets fans’ “Simmons” chants. In the second quarter, a group of Sixers fans started chanting, “[Bleep] Ben Simmons … To do what he needs to do to help his teammates win a ballgame. And the boos kept coming, especially after Simmons was called for a technical foul with 10:43 left. The Sixers standout finished the quarter with six points on 1-of-5 shooting along with three rebounds and two assists. “I missed a lot of shots today, which hasn’t happened in a while. However, he missed his final three shots in the half. Tonight, that was the same thing. But the 6-foot-10, 240-pound Simmons didn’t back down. Embiid got his points, scoring at least 26 for the eighth consecutive game. But it didn’t matter as the Sixers extended their league-best winning streak to six games. And Embiid had 26 points, 10 rebounds, and two steals in his first game against Simmons.

Ben Simmons was the primary storyline coming into Wednesday's game between his Brooklyn Nets and his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, but he was on the.

You become what you think about." He also stripped Kyrie Irving on a key defensive play and scored a layup in the last 30 seconds to extend the lead to four. "If you think about being a good teammate, you'll be a good teammate. #nets [continued](https://twitter.com/CMilholenSB/status/1618452449194541056) when talking about the aggressive stretch from Simmons. If you think about competing and playing hard, you do those things.

Wednesday's game had it all for a late January contest. “It was like it was a party. It was just hilarious,” Doc Rivers said.

[Tobias Harris](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/tobias-harris-UpRf034bQRbHK4vT/) shot 7 of 11 from the field. [Matisse Thybulle](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/matisse-thybulle-FecSqxC1FV1DRBU7/) even made a couple of key 3s. Curry took advantage of the Sixers’ defensive lapses en route to a huge offensive game with Rivers joking that he wanted “to smack” his son-in-law. This time, it was the Nets who stayed competitive without the services of their MVP candidate, [Kevin Durant](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/kevin-durant-ho6h1sijyi2PAURU/). “We held our composure and closed the game out,” Harden said. [Philadelphia 76ers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/sixers/) coach Doc Rivers called it “a boxing crowd.” [Ben Simmons](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/ben-simmons-xfSMIwcIYOvLWzUw/) had been back to Philadelphia twice with the [Brooklyn Nets](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/nets/), but he had never suited up against [Joel Embiid](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/joel-embiid-jcKI7IrySH9vZuXQ/). In the fourth quarter, the Sixers blew a 14-point lead but hung on to win. And while Embiid downplayed the matchup afterward, saying “there’s always the same aggression” regardless of the matchup, he is a showman. “It was like it was a party. “It was not a normal game, as far as that. And just one minute into the game, Embiid set a screen for Harden. He even “ [celebrated”](https://twitter.com/JoelEmbiid/status/1491844094343237632) when Simmons was finally moved.

Simmons matched up in the paint with his former teammate Joel Embiid, blocking his shot on one early possession. The matchup prompted Sixers coach Doc Rivers to ...

[Sixer](https://www.nj.com/sixers/) said the fans weren’t as rough as they were the last time he played in the City of Brotherly Love [ in November.](https://www.nj.com/nets/2022/11/ben-simmons-respects-diehard-fans-in-philly-but-is-looking-forward-to-getting-a-win-in-return.html) [Philadelphia](https://www.nj.com/sixers) on Wednesday night and was greeted with some lusty chants of “[ [Bleep] Ben Simmons](https://twitter.com/jomboymedia/status/1618441084232925184).”

PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets made a big trade at the 2022 deadline back in February of the 2021-22 season.

The Sixers beat the Nets at home on Wednesday night, 137-133. Got a little hairy there in the fourth quarter, but James Harden hit a couple of big threes ...

Dependent on you to do your job every single night and every single possession. If anything, it makes me re-appreciate Brett Brown’s motion offense and the way he used Ben. That was the case for most of the night.

ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins roasted Ben Simmons' first-half performance in Brooklyn's loss to the 76ers on Wednesday.

His current free-throw percentage of 44.6% is the lowest in his career by a wide margin. He’s most known for his time with the Boston Celtics, as he was with the squad for eight seasons and won a championship with them back in 2008. Meanwhile, Kendrick Perkins, now 38, spent 14 years in the big leagues with four different teams. Simmons is really struggling to score the ball from the free-throw line thus far, even by his standards. [ struggled to win games](https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-brooklyn-losing-streak-draws-similarities-struggles-leading-up-kevin-durant-trade-request) without Kevin Durant, who got bit by the injury bug [earlier in the month](https://clutchpoints.com/3-nets-players-who-must-step-up-in-wake-of-kevin-durant-injury). Ben Simmons, 26, is in his fifth year in the NBA and first as a member of the Nets after spending four in Philadelphia with the Sixers.

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, tries to get past Brooklyn Nets' Ben Simmons during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan.

I’m seeing flashes, I think we’re all seeing flashes, we just want him to keep it up, keep up the good work.” We just want to continue to hammer home that our best team effort is when we’re all playing well and staying aggressive and just taking shots that the defense is giving us. “That’s where we’re going to get him to where each possession he has to be dealt with on both ends of the floor,” the Nets head coach said. “Where you feel him on both ends of the floor, and he imposes his will and has an impact on every single possession, which he has the ability to do. That was when he refound the ability the Nets are counting on to help them weather the stretch without Durant and ultimately help fulfill their championship aspirations. Wednesday night’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers was just the latest example of that issue, which has become magnified with the absence of Kevin Durant.

Wednesday's matchup was an epic thriller marred by turnovers that had everything but Kevin Durant.

He said he’s fine with it if the team is winning but takes issue with it if the team is losing. Since losing Durant to an MCL sprain 2 1/2 weeks ago, the Nets have seen Claxton and Curry step up to help offset the loss of their franchise player. Irving hit a pull-up 3 with 90 seconds left to make it a four-point game and had a steal shortly after to find Claxton on a fast break to get it down to two. “He just made a choice to put his head down and be aggressive for our team and we need him to do that. Curry tied it at 120 with 4:06 left, but the Nets were unable to take the lead after Harden hit two straight 3s. For the quarter, Simmons went 4-for-5 from the field with three assists. [Nic Claxton](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/nic-claxton-47D5hSormvUQWaZj/) reset his career-high for the second straight game, finishing with 25 points and 11 rebounds. The 6-foot-10 point guard has known Mills his whole life and said he responds well to his countryman’s feedback. “You have a lot more time down there than you think,” Simmons said. I was going to go over and see my grandkids on Sunday, and now I’m rethinking that now from that performance.” For the second time this season the Nets fell to the Sixers at Wells Fargo Arena, this one a 137-133 defeat despite Brooklyn erasing a 17-point deficit. [Nets’](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/nets/) first trip to Philadelphia this season resulted in a loss to an undermanned Sixers team led by [Shake Milton](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/shake-milton-9DGEEJZLiAtpStp2/).