Ben Simmons: Highlights| Pre season| Nets debut| Free Throws

Ben Simmons ends a 470-day NBA hiatus in which Brooklyn knocks out against Philadelphia. The Aussie plays the first game after being knocked out by the 76ers; Simmons. Today we will discuss about Ben Simmons: Highlights| Pre season| Nets debut| Free Throws.

Ben Simmons: Highlights| Pre season| Nets debut| Free Throws

Benjamin David Simmons (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the LSU Tigers, after which he was unanimously named First Team All-American and USBWA National Freshman of the Year. Simmons was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers as the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. After sitting out a year due to a right leg injury, he was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 and was selected to the NBA All-Star Game three times. After the 2020-21 season resulted in the 76ers’ holdout, which led to him being traded to the Nets, Simmons is the player with the most penalties in NBA history.

Highlights

Ben Simmons played a competitive game for the first time in 470 days.

This was his debut for the Nets, and of course, it was a matchup against his former team. The Philadelphia 76ers emerged victorious behind an excellent game from Tyrese Maxi, who scored 20 points in just 13 minutes of action.

Simmons finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal.

After the game, he said he was grateful to be back on the floor. Based on what we saw from Simmons during his first game with Brooklyn, we learned a lot about his role and his expected impact on his new team.

Simmons didn’t set foot on NBA courts for 15 months, and he had back surgery, which doesn’t always lead to an easy recovery.

If there was any concern about how he would view the operation, he calmed them down on his first score of the game. Watch him run across the floor and throw down an impressive slam in transition:

It will be difficult for Brooklyn to stay on the open court next season, and Simmons should be having a lot of fun running on the floor alongside players like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Now that the potential concerns about his back have been cleared, we can get some more nuanced details about his debut.

Pre season

Ben Simmons made his long-awaited debut for the Brooklyn Nets in Monday’s preseason game that hosted the Philadelphia 76ers. Not only was it Simmons’ first game with the Nets, but it was also his first game in more than a year—since his former Sixers’ infamous Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Simmons shot 6 for 3, five assists, four rebounds, one steal and six points on two turnovers in 19 minutes of action in the first half of the Nets’ 127–108 loss at the hands of Philadelphia.

From scoring to passing to defense, here’s everything from Simmons’ first game to the net.

Nets debut

After missing all of the 2021-22 season due to physical and mental health concerns, Ben Simmons finally returned to action at Barclays Center on Monday night.

The three-time All-Star joined the lineup with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for the first time as the Nets opened the preseason against none other than Simmons’ former team, the 76ers. The versatile forward recorded six points, five assists, four rebounds and two turnovers in 19 minutes as the Sixers topped the nets, 127-108.

The matchup marked Simmons’ first match since June 20, 2021, when the Sixers suffered an infamous Game 7 defeat in the Eastern Conference semifinals over the Hawks. When asked how it felt to finally return, Simmons said it felt “amazing” to have the opportunity to play in his first game in 470 days.

“I’m grateful to be able to step on that floor, to step on the NBA floor again. I had so much fun there,” Simmons told reporters.

Free Throws

Ben Simmons’ foul-shooting woes in the playoffs so far are unclear.

They are basically phenomenal. The Philadelphia guard is 22 for 67 from the line so far this post season. He’s down 32.8% after going 4-for-14 in Game 5 of Philadelphia to Atlanta in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Wednesday night—and worse than anyone in NBA playoff history, with multiple attempts in a single postseason. Has not happened.

The next lowest percentage of people with at least 67 foul shots post season is Shaquille O’Neal’s 37.4% for Miami in 2006—when the Heat won the NBA championship anyway.

“Obviously, I’ve got to down the free throw,” Simmons said. “I have to step up and do that.”

Game 6 of the series is in Atlanta on Friday, with the top-seeded 76ers now in a win-or-home scenario as they go down a best-of-seven 3-2.