Ben Simmons lastly made his long-awaited debut for the Nets final night time in Brooklyn towards his former workforce, the Philadelphia 76ers.
Simmons, who hasn’t performed because the 2021 playoffs, had six factors, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists in a 127 to 108 loss to Philly.
His first factors as a Net got here on a fastbreak dunk off an help by Kyrie Irving.
“It feels so good to be back. I’m just blessed and grateful to be back on the floor playing with these guys. So, I’m happy,” stated Simmons in an interview after the sport.
“Overall, it was solid. I think there’s a lot of room for improvement, especially defensively. It’s a whole new team, but there’s a lot of upside too,” stated Simmons.
Simmons shot 50 percent from the sphere on six pictures in just a little over 19 minutes of play.
It was the primary time Simmons, Irving, and Kevin Durant have performed collectively.
The Sixers Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 20 factors.
It’s been a protracted journey from when Simmon was traded by the Sixers to really suiting up for the Nets.
The 26-year-old was initially cleared to play final April in Game 2 towards the Celtics, however by no means suited up.
“I wouldn’t be able to say anything about that because I’m not even sure how he’s going to get through these weeks,” Nash stated, through ESPN final April. “We have to also consider it’s a nine-month absence or whatever it is, so it’s not just like he had a six-week absence, so I think this is a pretty unique scenario. It’s not as linear as maybe the other kind of in-season injuries.”
Simmons is coming into his seventh yr within the league averaging 15.9 factors, 8.1 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per recreation, however has solely performed 4 seasons thus far, sitting out his rookie yr with a foot damage.
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