Simmons buries long-shot hoodoo

PIGS fly, fairies live in the garden and Ben Simmons can shoot three-pointers in an NBA game.

The latter is no longer fantasy.

The Australian NBA All-Star has baffled basketball fans, his Philadelphia 76ers teammates and NBA analysts with his reluctance to shoot from distance. On Wednesday he stepped up and buried a three-pointer in the first quarter against New York Knicks.

It was his first successful three-pointer in 194 NBA regular season and playoff games — an astonishing statistic for a modern day All-Star point forward.

Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center exploded in jubilation.

Social media caught fire, with Simmons’s shot the top trending topic on Twitter within minutes.

He said in an on-court interview post game that he had been “repping” the shot in practice.

“It felt good,” he said, when asked about making the shot. “I just like to come out here and play.”

The 76ers won 109-104. They overcame a 17point third-quarter deficit to beat the ordinary Knicks with Mike Scott and Joel Embiid hitting three-pointers in the final minutes to give the hosts the win.

It took Philadelphia a late 22-5 run to catch up and then outlast the Knicks.

Simmons, who had 18 points, seven rebounds, 13 assists, one steal and one block, did not try another three-pointer.

Sixers fans have wanted Simmons to develop an outside shooting game because Philadelphia had early playoff exits the first two years of Simmons’s NBA career as opposing teams hung off him, knowing he was reluctant to shoot.