76ers spoil Simmons' return to Philadelphia
Tobias Harris scored 24 points and a spirited 76ers team playing without Joel Embiid and James Harden spoiled Ben Simmons' homecoming with a 115106 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
Simmons had 11 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds to the tune of steady boos. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and Kevin Durant had 20 before coach Jacque Vaughn pulled his starting lineup with 3 minutes left in the game.
The expected marquee matchup was dimmed with Embiid out with a sprained left foot, Harden still out with a tendon strain in his right foot and starting guard Tyrese Maxey also out with a broken left foot.
Embiid versus Simmons will have to wait.
Simmons versus 76ers fans was pretty good.
Simmons was heckled, drew a flagrant foul, shushed the crowd on a layup, and even Jordanshrugged after hitting free throws. Of most importance for a player who has battled mental health issues, Simmons played with poise as boos rained on him for the bulk of his 32 minutes.
He already had three assists when he went to the free-throw line early in the game. Simmons was booed but never looked rattled and sank both baskets. Simmons had a reverse layup minutes later for his first bucket.
Simmons and secondyear Sixer Georges Niang tussled late in the first half and Niang gave his former teammate a light stiff-arm to the body that earned a technical foul.
Simmons missed the technical free throw and the crowd roared as much as it did all game.
KINGS 113, GRIZZLIES 109 >> De'Arron Fox scored 32 points and Harrison Barnes had 26 to lift Sacramento in Memphis. NOTE >> NBA referee Bill Kennedy, who came out as gay in 2015, spoke out in an emotional video Tuesday in response to the weekend shooting that killed five and left 17 others with gunshot wounds at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The 41-second video was released on the NBA's social media platforms.
“These types of heinous crimes, these hideous hate crimes, need to stop in this country,” Kennedy said. “We, we as the people, have to figure out a way to do this and to get it done. Godspeed to the LGBT community in Colorado Springs and abroad.”
The shooting at Club Q took place Saturday night. The suspect in the shooting, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, faces murder and hate crime charges. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance today by video from jail.