After a win over the New York Knicks, the Sixers went across the bridge and knocked off the Brooklyn Nets on Martin Luther King Day 117-111 to start 2-0 on this brief three-game road trip. They won on a day where Ben Simmons was completely dominant and he had to be in order for them to win this one.
Simmons had to play some center after the team experimented with Kyle O’Quinn and Jonah Bolden at the center spot in the first half with failing results and he was ridiculous. He finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists, and five steals and he was all over the place for them.
It was needed after the Nets took a lead of 12 points and that is when coach Brett Brown made the change to put Simmons at center and he was off and running. He was huge on both ends of the floor creating havoc and he also went to the foul line 14 times, making 10 of them.
“Just his determination,” said Brown. “He just wasn’t going to let the team lose. We’re all going to look at his stat sheet and say ‘wow’. You’re going to see a triple-double of 34 points. Look at the volume of free throws, look at his steals. He just peppered the stat sheet all over the place. But what I see is his spirit, his body language, his facial expressions. They reeked of, ‘we’re going to win, and you guys hang on to me and I will carry you.’ I felt like he did that in many ways.”
Simmons led a big defensive effort late as well when it was needed. The Sixers offense went cold for a stretch and they won this game on the defensive end of the floor getting multiple stops when it was needed.
“Just energy,” he reacted. “Just giving my guys energy defensively, pushing the ball, communicating, just using my voice on the floor. I just came in with that mindset to win. I just wanted to win.”
It was not just Brown who noticed what Simmons brought to the floor. It was Tobias Harris as well.
“He was huge tonight,” said Harris. “He dominated from the start of the game, got out in transition, made plays all night. Huge reason why we won this game, but he was everywhere tonight.”
The Sixers will now head to Toronto on Wednesday for a tilt with the Raptors to conclude this road trip. Philadelphia has yet to win a regular-season game on the road against the Raptors since 2012. [lawrence-related id=23914,23905,23897]