It was one of the most anticipated moments of this start of the season. He hadn’t stopped talking about it for a few days. Ben Simmons was playing again in Philadelphia. He was there last year and already received his share of boos as he watched an easy victory for the Nets from the bench. Let’s remember that he spent all of last season without playing. But today he dressed in shorts for the first time in his career at the Wells Fargo Center with another jersey that was not that of the Sixers. The pavilion, full to overflowing, wanted him and he let her know whenever he could. Simmons didn’t back down and even did the Michael Jordan shrug after making two free throws. A while later he was going to miss two in a row and the crowd erupted with joy: they had just won a free fried chicken promotion.
Everything revolved around the point guard, who after the match told the media that he hoped they would have booed him more. What he perhaps did not expect either is that his team would lose to some Sixers in the field as far as stars are concerned. James Harden was missing, who hasn’t played for a few games now. Tyrese Maxey was missing, who is going to be away for a few weeks. And Joel Embiid was missing, after yesterday they announced that he was going to miss the next two games. The occasion was painted bald for Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and company to do their thing… And perhaps it can be considered that they did. They lost one of those matches that you face so much in advance that they shouldn’t be lost, they can’t be lost.
But these Nets are like that. It doesn’t matter that his image had improved in recent games, that Ben Simmons had begun to produce at a remarkable rate, that the scandals involving Iving began to be buried in oblivion (and by force between one and the other). Because the same thing comes out of Durant basically saying that he is surrounded by useless people who crash against a clearly inferior team. Or how do you consider a roster where the starting five is Shake Milton, De’Anthony Melton, PJ Tucker, Tobis Harris and Montrezl Harrell? “Everyone wants to see this team fail. Nobody likes Ben, nobody likes Ky, nobody likes me,” Kevin Durant told reporters ironically after the meeting. They may, just may, have done something to earn the enmity of most NBA fans.
Tobias Harris was the leader in the absence of his superiors (24 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists) and Paul Reed (double-double 19+10 from the bench) received the applause of his teammates, who recognized the key role he played in the victory. A game that marked the fourth consecutive PJ Tucker without scoring a point playing at least 25 minutes (37), something that had not happened in the history of the league. But he hasn’t been booed yet…