Simmons greeted with boos as 76ers spoil homecoming

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 Nets in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

Simmons had 11 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds to the tune of steady boos. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and Kevin Durant had 20 before head coach Jacque Vaughn pulled his starting lineup with three 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 Philly 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 dealt with 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 didn't look rattled and sank both foul shots.

Sixers fans were mostly well-behaved — save for a couple of short-lived “(Expletive) Ben Simmons!” chants — and saved the four-letter words mostly for tape on the back of their old No. 25 jerseys.

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.

It wasn't all jeers, all game. Simmons did make 76ers fans go wild over him when he missed consecutive free-throw attempts in the second half and triggered a free fastfood-chicken promotion. Kings 113, Grizzlies 109: De'Aaron Fox had 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists as visiting Sacramento prevailed.