Shorthanded Sixers do the unthinkable to Ben Simmons and the Nets — win, 115-106

The 76ers did the unthinkable to Ben Simmons and the Brooklyn Nets.

Minus their best three players, the Sixers didn’t have a chance against their former teammate and the Eastern Conference rival squad. Or so almost everyone thought.

Yet the Sixers prevailed, 115-106, Tuesday night in what was, as expected, a hostile environment for Simmons at the Wells Fargo Center.

But his old teammates displayed grit and toughness to defy odds. They fought hard, had different players step up, and halted several Nets rallies with clutch shots.

“The toughness is what we needed,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Tonight is a game you saw it like in front of you. Whether they played well or not, our guys were going to compete. You saw that.”

Following the game, the Sixers made a roster move. A source confirmed they waived two-way center Michael Foster (who made his NBA debut against the Nets in a brief appearance) to create a two-way spot for point guard Saben Lee, who played the past two seasons with the Detroit Pistons. The team hopes Foster clears waivers and joins the Delaware Blue Coats, the Sixers’ G League affiliate.

With the win, the Sixers improved to 9-8. They have won four of their last five games.

» READ MORE: Ben Simmons wants Philly return to stay focused on Sixers-Nets: ‘It’s not about everything else’

Tobias Harris, who sat out the previous game with an injury, led all scorers with 24 points to go with six rebounds and three assists. De’Anthony Melton added 22 points while Paul Reed contributed 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Georges Niang and Shake Milton were their other double-digit scorers, with 16 apiece.

Displaying balance and sharpshooting, the Sixers shot 50% on three-pointers. Not bad, considering perennial All-Stars Joel Embiid (left foot sprain) and James Harden (right foot strain) and rising star Tyrese Maxey (left foot fracture) are currently all sidelined.

Kyrie Irving led Brooklyn (8-10) with 23 points. Kevin Durant had 20 points, six assists, and five rebounds, while Simmons had 11 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds.

In his playing return to Philadelphia, Simmons was far from fazed.

Sixers fans’ boos were loud and frequent in the direction of the Nets point guard. Maybe they should have used a different tactic against the former Sixer whom Philadelphians have grown to hate.

That’s because their noise had zero impact on his performance.

“I thought it was going to be louder,” Simmons said of the noise.

» READ MORE: Ben Simmons explains why he hasn’t spoken to Joel Embiid since leaving Sixers: ‘You’re not cool with everybody’

But the sellout crowd’s reactions were expected in the former Sixer’s first game in Philly since forcing a trade to Brooklyn on Feb. 10. Nets coach Jacque Vaughn even had people in a room laughing about the situation around 90 minutes before the game.

“This a Vince Vaughn Earmuffs Night tonight,” he said. “That’s what that is. And it ain’t got nothing to do with the weather, either.”

The Sixers faithful booed Simmons as he led the Nets on the floor, whenever he touched the ball, made a play and subbed in and out of the game. They even chanted “[Expletive] Ben Simmons” numerous times during the game.

One of those times came while the officials reviewed a foul Niang committed on Simmons under the Nets basket with 48.1 seconds left in the first half. The foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1.

Simmons may have endeared himself slightly to fans when he missed a pair of foul shots early in the third quarter, enabling Sixers fans to receive free Chick-fil-A nuggets as part of the “Bricken for Chicken” promotion. If an opponent misses two consecutive foul shots in the second half, fans will get free chicken nuggets. Simmons made three of six foul shots for the game.

“They were not on the floor,” he said of the crowd. “So I didn’t think they were going to be an issue either way. Obviously, it was loud or whatever, the chants. But for me, I just had to focus on playing the game, making sure I was put in the right place for my teammates.”

Harris had a little scare when he rolled an ankle 41 seconds into the second half.

The Sixers forward fell to the court and remained there for a couple of minutes, clearly in pain. After getting up, Harris went to the locker room to be evaluated and returned with 7:32 left in the third quarter. Eighteen of his points came after returning from the training room.

“The last thing I thought I would see is Tobias back in the game,” Rivers said. “Whatever he did when we went in, we need to send him in more.”

Informed that he meditated in the training room, the coach said “He needed to, because he was so much better.”

“Tobias wanted to win that game. You can feel it,” Rivers said. “For whatever reason, he wanted to win. But because that, he was in his own way. Going back to the locker room and meditating or whatever he did, you could see a different guy whenever he came back out, and that was good for us.”

Matisse Thybulle tried to play on his bad left ankle. However, the Sixers guard was only able to play 3 minutes, 22 seconds — all in the second quarter.

Thybulle could barely run up and down the court. He had no lift. He made one of three three-pointers, but it was obvious he was struggling. Thybulle went to the training room in the second quarter and remained there to receive treatment the rest of the game. He finished with three points.

This marked the third straight game that he was unable to play for a long period of time because of his ankle.

“We didn’t have any guys,” Thybulle said. “So I wanted to be available. And if I could get something out of it, do it. But me being out there, I think coach [Rivers] and I felt was more of a liability than a benefit just having a bum wheel.

“So now it’s just take some time to take care of it so I can come back and be myself.”

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The Sixers travel to Charlotte to face the Hornets on Wednesday at the Spectrum Center. The Hornets (4-14) have lost three straight and 11 of their last 12 games. The Sixers have won their last eight meetings in Charlotte.