Simmons returns for Sixers as they blast Thunder

PHILADELPHIA » The Sixers had just played without Ben Simmons for every irritating play of a meaningful, late-season fourgame losing streak. If that was a crisis by Monday, it was one Doc Rivers would not waste without advancing an eternal 76ers message.

“I was joking with another coach in the league,” the Sixers’ coach said. “He called me and said, ‘If anyone ever asks you again about how important Ben is on offense, just show them the last four games.’”

While the Sixers certainly would miss a starting All-Star guard, the opposition, the scheduling and a shoulder injury to Joel

Embiid just might have been factors, too.

The Sixers’ losing streak began when the Warriors’ Steph Curry went for 49. They lost the next game to Phoenix, with the second best record in the NBA, on a night when Chris Paul performed to his Hall of Fame standard. Then they stumbled after traveling to Milwaukee for a back-to-back. A day and a half later, they lost again to the Bucks when Embiid didn’t play.

Rivers, though, was determined to connect the absence of Simmons to the losing streak, and then link his return to a 121-90 victory Monday over dreadful Oklahoma City. The Thunder, which would fall to 21 games under .500 after their night of unacceptable professional basketball, never led, trailed by 37 at one point and lost their 14th consecutive game.

To the Sixers, though, the victory was significant, not only because it pushed them to within a game of first-place Brooklyn in the Eastern Conference, but because they nearly had their entire roster together.

Though Danny Green was resting a creaky hip, Rivers did have four-fifths of his starting lineup. Only Mike Scott (hip) was missing from the second unit.

“Everybody was doing their thing,” Simmons said, “all night long.”

Simmons provided 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting, adding four assists and three rebounds. Embiid paced the Sixers with 21 points. Tobias Harris added 11.

Ty Jerome canned a game-high 22 for Oklahoma City.

With 11 games remaining, the Sixers are running low on time to mesh their lineups for the postseason.

“This is going to be huge,” Simmons said of the task ahead. “We have a chance to have that No. 1 seed. That would be awesome.”

To Rivers, the availability of Simmons will be critical.

“Where we miss him the most is offensively,” he said. “The threepointers that we make and get, a lot of them are due to Ben.”

The Sixers shot 38.2 percent from distance in their four games without Simmons, up from their 36.9 accuracy for the season, if it matters.

“I don’t know what other people were thinking, but I know I am a huge value to this team,” Simmons said. “If you know basketball, you see it. It is what it is. Everybody plays their role. I play my role and we won.” That’s the narrative. “We missed Ben,” Rivers said, “a ton.”

• • • After missing two games with a sprained ankle, Furkan Korkmaz replaced Green in the lineup and scored 10 points.

“The last couple of days, I was getting some treatment and getting some shots up,” he said after a morning walk-through. “I feel good.”

The fourth-year forward is ready for the Eastern Conference pennant race.

“We want to get that first seed,” Korkmaz said. “We just want to go game by game and give it our all. Our mentality is just, ‘Go and get it.’”