Ben Simmons stepped out of the shadows of Philadelphia fans showering him with boos and into rarified air in today’s Game 2 of their NBA Playoffs match up against the Brooklyn Nets.
After a fairly pissy effort in Game 1 that saw the Nets rumble the much more fancied Sixers at home, Simmons and Joel Embiid took the Nets to school in Game 2, with Philly dropping a whopping 51 points in the third quarter alone en route to a 145 – 123 win.
[jwplayer ph2uligS]
As for yr boy Ben, the lad from Fitzroy dropped his second career playoff triple-double, becoming just the third Philadelphia player to do so; only Charles Barkley and Wilt Chamberlain have achieved multiple post-season triple-doubles for the Sixers prior to today. Which is a real bloody thing if you think about it.
The Sixers’ 51 third quarter points also equals an NBA Playoff record for most points scored in a single quarter; equalling the all-time mark set by the Los Angeles Lakers way back in 1962.
And with 145 points in total, the Sixers set a new franchise record for points scored in a playoff game, besting the previous high-water mark of 141 set in 1961 against the team then-known as the San Francisco Warriors.
Hell, even the crowd got something out of the game: A promotional quirk meant everyone in the arena would get a free Wendy’s Frosty if the Nets missed a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter. Lo and behold:
FREE ICECREAM IN PHILLY! 🍦😂 pic.twitter.com/c1N7og67XX
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 16, 2019
But the key takeaway from the game here is that just two days removed from being booed by his own home fans, Simmons – who put away 18 points with 12 rebounds and 10 assists – took everyone to church and held for applause afterwards.
Simmons with the steal & finish! 😏@sixers are up 86-66!#HereTheyCome | #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/mYoyROT2Ni
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 16, 2019
Not a bad way to bounce back at all.
The Sixers/Nets series is tied 1-1, and shifts to Brooklyn for Game 3 on Friday morning Australian time.
