Kevin Durant scored 18 of his 34 points in Brooklyn’s dominating first half in the Nets’ 129-100 blowout victory over the 76ers on today (AEDT) in Ben Simmons’ much-hyped return to Philadelphia.
Seth Curry added 24 points, and Kyrie Irving had 22 for the Nets. They entered in eighth place in the East but looked like a legitimate conference contender while badly outplaying the third-place 76ers.
Joel Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers and James Harden finished with just 11 points. It was the first loss for Philadelphia in six games with Harden in the line-up.
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The game was dubbed as ‘Boo Ben’ night, but the raucous fans instead turned their displeasure on the home team when the 76ers went to the locker room trailing 72-51 and again when Brooklyn built a stunning 32-point lead in the third quarter.
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Simmons, wearing a designer hockey jersey and a flashy boxing kangaroo necklace, watched from the bench, likely taking delight in the vitriol deflected away from him. The three-time All-Star is continuing to recover from a back injury that has sidelined him since being swapped for Harden in a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline.
While Simmons hasn’t taken the floor yet, Harden had been a boon for the 76ers unlike his time in Brooklyn, where the so-called Big 3 of Harden, Durant and Irving managed to play just 16 games together following Harden’s trade to Brooklyn last January that was billed as a potential championship move. Harden exchanged fist bumps with Nets staff members just before tip off before a shockingly poor performance from the 10-time All-Star and former MVP.
Harden missed 14 of 17 field-goal attempts.
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The only shot Simmons took was a dunk during pregame warmups that drew derisive cheers from the Philly fans.
The boos started early, as Simmons was met with catcalls while boarding the team bus to shootaround from the Nets’ downtown hotel. Simmons did oblige one fan for an autograph, with another being heard on a video widely circulated on social media yelling, “Why the grievance? Why spit in the face of Sixers fans? We did nothing but support you for five years, Ben. You know that.”
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The heckling continued when Simmons was at the arena. He entered the court 55 minutes prior to tip off, wearing a sleeveless Nets warmup shirt and sweats and spent 20 minutes passing for Patty Mills’ warmup shots. He didn’t embrace any of his former teammates, though he did walk the length of the court to hug a 76ers official.
A large security presence closely watched the crowd and cell phones captured every Simmons move.
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