Simmons steps up for 76ers
BEN Simmons stepped up and went close to a tripledouble as the Philadelphia 76ers claimed their first away win of the NBA season, hanging tough to beat Indiana 100-94.
The Australian point guard contributed 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Sixers, who came into the encounter having won all of their first six matches at home, while dropping their previous five on the road by an average margin of 15.2 points.
“I’m excited that we got our first road win this year,” said coach Brett Brown.
“We were pleased to get a win, especially after a performance we wanted to forget (a 25-point drubbing away to Brooklyn).”
The Pacers were well led by star guard Victor Oladipo, who had a game high 36 points. But Philadelphia had a much better spread of scorers, with Simmons just one of half a dozen Sixers in double figures as they won on Indiana’s home court for the first time since April 2013. “We were just overthinking things,” Simmons said.
“We were putting too much pressure on ourselves. We finally put it together.”