Takeaways from Sixers’ 117-111 win over the Nets: Ben Simmons dominates

Ben Simmons played so many roles, all well. Brooklyn came out with an interesting defensive concept on Simmons — try to have a big man on him at all times. Whether in a zone or man-to-man, the Nets’ Jarret Allen was often matched up with Simmons. The problem is that Simmons is took quick for a big man. If a smaller man is on him, he will post up. In the first half Simmons only took six shots,but had 15 points.

Simmons has been enjoying great success driving down the middle of the lane and the Nets weren’t able to stop him. In the event a smaller defender was on him, Simmons still thrived. In the second quarter, with 6-7 Taurean Prince on him, Simmons used a Euro step to get around Prince (who is a solid defender) and finished with a dunk. In the third quarter he scored on a driving layup down the middle right over Allen.

No matter who is guarding Simmons, one of his underrated skills is moving without the ball. In the first quarter, he slipped by the defense to finish an alley-oop dunk on a pass from Tobias Harris. To show his versatility, late in the third quarter Simmons came in and was used at center and almost immediately on a pick-and-roll, he ended up scoring a driving layup over rookie Nicolas Claxton. Simmons added a pick-and-roll dunk on a pass from Furkan Korkmaz.

With just 2.4 seconds left, Simmons beat Claxton on a pick-and-roll, and drew a Flagrant 1 foul. in the beginning of the fourth quarter, he scored on a hook shot over former Sixer Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, then made a steal and fed Matisse Thybulle for a dunk.

For someone who was questionable with a sprained left hand, Al Horford put forth quite an effort for the Sixers. In the fourth quarter alone, he three big jumpers, including a three-pointer that extended the Sixers’ lead to 108-104 with 1 minute, 22 seconds left. The Sixers were using an interesting high-low alignment, with Horford standing at the top of the key and Simmons often down low. After that three, he began at the top of the key and then scored on a driving layup. Horford had nine fourth-quarter points.

Claxton, the 31st overall pick in June’s NBA draft, was a difference maker in the first half He got more of a chance since backup center DeAndre Jordan was out with an injured finger. While Claxton isn’t very strong, the 20-year-old product of the University of Georgia is a quick leaper and had three offensive rebounds in the first half, just one fewer than the Sixers.

At 6-foot-11 and 215 pounds, he needs to gain a lot of strength, but he is quick and athletic. During the first half, he had 13 points and had his way, especially when Jonah Bolden was guarding him. In the third quarter, Claxton scored on a follow jam that gave him an NBA career-high 15 points, but it would be his only scoring in the second half. On the negative side, his lack of strength showed when the Sixers got a few offensive rebounds against him in the third quarter.

The Nets entered the fourth quarter with 12 turnovers. Then in the fourth period, they imploded, with 10 turnovers. Too many sloppy passes and others in too much traffic. With players like Simmons and Thybulle, who have great anticipation, lazy passes get picked off and the Nets were continually burned by that.