The Nets, led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, thrashed the 66ers in tribute to Ben Simmons, 129–100.

Sports News / By /

After all, it was the perfect game.

The Nets destroyed not only the 66ers by 29, but their former teammate as well. the one who demanded to be traded at the deadline looked visibly ill, scoring just 11 points on 3 of his 17 shots. Finally, not only did Philadelphia’s notoriously fickle fans boo their own team, but a small contingent of Nets fans who drove down I-95 dominated the Wells Fargo Center, chanting “Brook-lin” and “Where Harden? heard across America in a nationally televised game. Oh yes, the win also made Ben Simmons smile… a lot… off the bench.

“The guys have been great, we’ve got our second win in a row and let’s see if we can keep building,” said Steve Nash. “I think it’s great for our confidence. We had such a difficult period due to injuries, and we are trying to bring everything together and achieve unity and understanding.

“It brings everyone together a bit and gives us faith and confidence in what we’re trying to do.”

In the end, Brooklyn was led by two of its new Big Three — Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — but also received contributions from two players who were included in the February 10 blockbuster trade deadline: Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.

“It was a good environment to start, but it didn’t end there,” Duran said, speaking of how the 66ers and their fans were worn down by the Nets’ excellent performance. “When we left the court, I didn’t feel that way. Like I said, it was like a regular game.

“But I liked how we approached the game, how we played physically and didn’t let any of that affect what we wanted to do. The audience, no matter who we played with tonight, I felt like we were locked in.”

KD finished with one of those “you know who I am” games with 25 points and 14 rebounds, as well as seven assists. It was his 12th double-double of the season, his third in four games against the Sixers. Durant finished the scoring game 10-of-17, including 3-of-6 from deep. He also had two interceptions and a block in the battle of contenders for the MVP.

Kyrie Irving, who scored 50 goals two days ago at Charlotte, has 22 goals and, like his superstar buddy, had an effective game, scoring 8 of 17 and 5 of 11, adding five shields and four assists.

But the big surprise of the evening was Seth Curry, who, along with Andre Drummond, was included in a February 10 trade for James Harden and Paul Millsap. Curry had his best game as Nett, scoring 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including four triples. He also stole the ball five times.

“Sean (Marks) wanted me for a reason – they trust me,” Curry said after the game, adding, “We’re getting better – it’s just a regular season game, but it’s a big springboard for us.”

The Nets also received double-digit plays from James Johnson (16), Bruce Brown (11) and Patty Mills (10). The two big Nets players assigned to Embiid, Andre Drummond and Nick Claxton, not only did a solid job defending the big 7-foot-2 player who landed 5 of 17 shots from the floor, but also scored 16 points in total and took 15 boards between rivals. them.

In fact, Curry and Drummond finished with 31 points, just seven short of Harden and Embiid.

The win also destroyed the pre-game backstory that Philadelphia’s famous fickle fans would get their way with Simmons, making him miserable even if he didn’t play. They held a grudge against him after he lasted most of the season, hoping to get out of the City of Brotherly Love. While the Philadelphia Boo Birds treated Simmons ruthlessly when he went out for a shootout, when he escorted the team to the pregame bench and when he touched a missed pass late, he and his teammates literally had the last laugh when the Nets bench “started up. rows of smiles.

“It was sweet. I loved it,” Irving said after the win. “It’s great for our league that you can evoke so much emotion on a night like tonight. I felt like we made a commitment to play aggressive defense. … When you step into an environment like this, we knew there would be very active fans and we wanted to enjoy it.”

He added that Philadelphia’s hatred of Simmons played a role in the Nets’ performance.

“For us it is not individual. We all felt it. We are all there. If you go for Ben, you go for us,” Irving said after the game.

“Ben is safe here, he’s all right,” Irving added.

Duran told the media much the same.

“We look at Ben as our brother… it’s hard for you to sing about Ben Simmons when you’ve got so much to lose,” Durant said.

At one point in the first quarter, as the Philadelphia fans began chanting “Fuck Ben Simmons,” Durant walked down the lane and shut the fans up with a dunk. Irving then hit back-to-back triples.

It was an undisputed victory for Brooklyn. The Nets swung the net in the first quarter. Brooklyn dropped 17 of his first 26 looks, scoring 40 points. Both Irving and Kevin were ridiculous, scoring a total of 9 of 11 from the field. Curry, enjoying his own revenge game against his former employer (and his father-in-law Doc Rivers), scored nine points. Meanwhile, James Harden had what could best be described as the opposite of showing a rematch: he scored just 1 of 6 in the first quarter.

From there, things went downhill for the Sixers. They were 21 down in the half (72-51) and then crashed out of it after a ridiculous third quarter, heading into the fourth 32 points behind. At one point, the gap increased to 36, and the Sixers fans left the building disgruntled.

Duran praised the contingent of Nets fans who had come by bus from Barclays Center.

“Our fans have been traveling,” KD said. “It was very remarkable to see the Brooklyn fans, because we have a label that we have no fans. So listen to them in such a huge arena battling another energetic crowd like the Sixers fans. I’m starting to see it more and more. the last couple of years since I’ve been here. that fans are starting to travel. We will need it in the future.”

While most of the recounting will be on the Nets offense, which recorded 56 percent of shots overall and 45 percent from depth, the Nets defense choked the Sixers by holding them at 32.3 percent (30 of 93) with 13 interceptions. and 15 blocks. five by James Johnson and three each by Claxton and Drummond.

By the end of the night, the Nets were 34-33, still ranked eighth in the East but only two games out of seventh, where the Raptors sit with a two-game lead over the ninth and tenth teams in the NBA. play-in format.

For the Sixers, especially for Harden, it was just a bad game.

“We have received our [butt] kicked out,” Harden said after the game.

Mistakes have been made

By the end of the game, the Sixers fans were so angry that the arena security had to remove more than one of them …

After the game, members of the Brooklyn Brigade, who had been cheering for their team from the stands, gathered behind the Nets bench and chanted “Ben Simmons.”

Significant celebrating victory

Before the game, when Ben Simmons weathered the cheers during the shootout, he stood next to Australian Patty Mills. Mills once said that Simmons was back. After watching the victory in Philadelphia, Simmons’ fiancée and Mills’ wife celebrated the victory on Instagram.

milestone clock

When Reggie Miller called the game, James Harden outscored the Pacers sharpshooter in all-time three-point shooting. Harden now has 2,561 men, one more than Miller.

Patty Mills also hit two triples, giving him 200 points for the season. He becomes the fourth “Network” to reach this milestone, behind only D’Angelo Russell (234), Joe Harris (211) and Allen Crabbe (201) in Nets annals. He has 16 games to beat DLo and averages around three games.

Brooklyn Nets - Philadelphia 76ers

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Calling from Long Island, but not the Nets

Tyrone Wallace, who played for the Long Island Nets, was called up by the Pelicans on Thursday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

The call could be a blow to Long Island’s G-League title hopes. Wallace teamed up with Craig Randall II, providing the young Nets with a solid backcourt. Wallace, 27, has previously played for the Clippers and Hawks.

If his move with New Orleans doesn’t work, Wallace could return to Long Island with G-League rights.

What’s next?

On Sunday, the Nets will return to Brooklyn to play their traditional rival the Knicks. Kyrie Irving will not be allowed to play, and Ben Simmons is also unlikely to play. Steve Nash said after the game that Simmons would not play 5 on 5 and would not be a full member of Saturday’s practice. The game is a matinee, beginning at 13:00.

For a fresh take on Thursday’s game, visit Liberty Ballers, our sister site dedicated to the Sixers…but beware.