Simmons leads 76ers past Mavs
6-foot-10 rookie guard racks up 23 points, eight assists.
Ben Simmons’ NBA career was put on hold when he missed all of last season with a broken foot.
Six games into his rookie season the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft is making up for lost time.
“He doesn’t look like a rookie out there. He’s just playing basketball,” 76ers center Joel Embiid said.
Simmons had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as Philadelphia outlasted the Dallas Mavericks 112-110 on Saturday night for their second win of the season.
“Everyone knew he was going to be good, but he’s way better than expected,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Some of the plays, just amazing stuff.”
Simmons, who is tall for a point guard at 6-foot-10, had three steals and shot 10 for 15 from the field.
“He’s incredible,” teammate T.J. McConnell said. “A guy his height is able to move like that and distribute the ball the way he does, it opens up the floor and makes things easier for everyone. He’s a game changer for sure.”
Embiid added 23 points and nine rebounds as the 76ers won in Dallas for the first time since Jan. 29, 2005.
Dallas had a chance to tie the game and force overtime with 0.2 seconds remaining with Yogi Ferrell at the free throw line, but the guard missed the first attempt and Dallas couldn’t score on a rebound after he intentionally missed the second.
Before the miss Ferrell had made 25 of 26 free throws this season.
Simmons won the battle of rookie point guards with Dallas’ Dennis Smith Jr., who countered with 12 points and eight assists, but struggled with six turnovers.
McConnell added 15 points off the bench and Robert Covington had 11 points for the 76ers.
Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 25 points. Wesley Matthews had 19, Ferrell 17 and J.J. Barea 15.
Both teams relied heavily on 3-pointers as Philadelphia went 16 for 35 from beyond the arc, while Dallas made 19 of 40 3-point attempts.
Philadelphia seemingly took control and closed the third quarter with a 13-4 run after Dallas took a 76-74 lead with 5:06 remaining in the period.
The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run and kept the game close, but couldn’t regain the lead in their final outing before a two-game road trip.