Player grades: Ben Simmons scores 12 in contentious 137-133 loss to the 76ers
The Brooklyn Nets visited Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday to take on the Philadelphia 76ers for the second time this season and lost 137-133. The 76ers now lead the regular-season series, and possible rivalry, 2-0.
For the Nets, Seth Curry had 32 points and four assists while Kyrie Irving had 30 points and 10 assists. Nic Claxton had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Ben Simmons had 12 points in an uneven game that he did not finish while having a wrap on his back.
For the 76ers, Tyrese Maxey had 27 points and five assists off the bench while Joel Embiid had 26 points and 10 rebounds. James Harden had 23 points and seven assists and De’Anthony Melton had 19 points and three blocks.
In a game that started off physical and had six technical fouls called, the 76ers and the Nets had no issues scoring. Both teams shot over 51% from the field, but Brooklyn had trouble stopping Philadelphia all night long.
Simmons was a no-show in the first half, but he was much better in the second half. Unfortunately, Simmons did not have much impact in this game outside of the third quarter as he did not finish the game as the Nets were making their furious comeback. Philadelphia got a great performance from the supporting players like Melton.
Here are your Nets player grades:
Ben Simmons: B-
Possibly because of the boos, Simmons started this game off as slow as humanly possible. He did not shoot the ball at all in the first half, but he woke up in the third quarter. Simmons can be a frustrating player to watch because of his tendency to not shoot the ball despite having favorable matchups. With that being said, Simmons spent a good part of the beginning of this game getting into it with Joel Embiid. Simmons did a decent job of passing the ball, but he turned it over too many times. His defense was pretty good outside of some unnecessary fouls.
Kyrie Irving: B+
Irving did a good job of scoring the ball in the first half, but was nowhere to be found in the second half. All things considered, Irving did not shoot the ball much at all since the 76ers were keying in on him and making the others, like Ben Simmons, beat them. Irving did a great job of passing the ball despite facing some double-teams throughout the night. For some reason, Irving had trouble keeping his balance, but it looked like he was moving better in the second half.
Joe Harris: C-
Harris was as efficient as can be with shooting the ball, but he did not shoot much in this game. He looked confident shooting his shot all night long. He did a decent job on the glass, but he did have some trouble guarding without fouling.
Royce O'Neale: C+
O’Neale did a solid job of shooting the ball in this game in the early part of this game. He did not shoot much in the second half as Philadelphia made it a point to close out to shooters like O’Neale. He did a good job of passing the ball to his open teammates when the 76ers closed out to him too hard.
Nic Claxton: A+
Claxton was wonderful in this game. He did a great job of scoring the basketball, mostly against Joel Embiid, and he was scoring in impressive ways throughout the night. Claxton is obviously best when getting the ball in the dunker spot so that he can finish at the rim, but he also scored in the post and even had a nice euro-step move to finish against James Harden. Claxton was all over the glass and he did a great job playing defense especially limiting Joel Embiid.
Seth Curry: A+
Curry was scorching hot in this game. He was awesome shooting the ball all night long and he got white hot in the fourth quarter. Curry was on fire from the three-point line and he even was able to generate some offense going to the rim as well. While his defense could’ve been better, Curry was so good offensively that he more than offset his defensive deficiencies.
Yuta Watanabe: B+
Watanabe did not do much in the first half as he looked lost on offense and had trouble keeping up on defense. However, he was much better in the second half as he looked more comfortable shooting the ball. He did most of his damage inside the paint as he did a good job of cutting to the basket and making himself available. He did a good job rebounding and his defense was much better in the second half.
Edmond Sumner: C+
Sumner did not play much in this game as Jacque Vaughn only used Sumner to give Kyrie Irving some rest in the first half. While Sumner was on the floor, he did a good job of keeping the offense flowing and he even hit a big three to help Brooklyn stay in it.
TJ Warren: D
Warren was nowhere to be found in this game. He did not do much in the scoring department and in fact, did not play much after his first stint in the first half. Warren has been dealing with a sore knee, but it’s possible that Vaughn saw that Warren didn’t have it and went in a different direction.
Markieff Morris: C-
Morris did a good job of being a physical presence in a physical game, but he did not provide much value while on the floor. He did a decent job rebounding, but other than that, he was getting beat off the dribble repeatedly and had to foul just to prevent the basket.
