‘Explosive’ Ben Simmons leads Brooklyn Nets to first win of the season

Australian NBA star Ben Simmons has delighted basketball fans after producing his best display on the court in a long time.

Simmons is getting back to his best. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

Ben Simmons and the Brooklyn Nets are officially on the board after recording their first win of the 2023/24 season.

After narrowly losing their opening two games, the Nets took care of business against the Charlotte Hornets to register the 133-121 victory.

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A 42-point opening quarter onslaught was the difference in the contest as six players ended the game with double figure scoring.

Cam Thomas led the way, finishing with a game-high 33 points but it was the play of Simmons that delighted the basketball world.

The Aussie star guard burst out of the blocks with an absurd opening seven minutes of play in the first quarter.

Simmons registered four points, four rebounds and three assists to put himself on triple-double watch in the early stages.

Simmons did it all against the Hornets. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

He fell agonisingly short as he finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. But it didn’t stop fans from losing it over his impressive return.

“Pushing the pace, quick in tempo by everyone, beautiful outlet [passes]. The drive and kick action has opened up a lot, not just for Simmons, but the entirety of this Brooklyn team,” Sarah Kustok said on YES Network.

“Ben Simmons has been playmaking and doing the things you know he can do and you expect out of him,” Kustok said.

“He looks explosive. He looks healthy. He’s just continuing to showcase an aggression in terms of dictating the tempo, which is what you want to see.”

Ben Simmons is COOKING right now 🔥🐐 pic.twitter.com/Bi3I88I4Qe

— BenMuse (@BenSimmons_Muse) October 31, 2023

Ben Simmons. 😤

pic.twitter.com/i0AFq2ZymC

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 30, 2023

The challenge, as Nets coach Jacque Vaughn admitted earlier in the week, is to try find a way to replicate Simmons’ success when Nic Claxton is healthy to return to the court.

“That’s definitely been addressed from me in front of this group. It is staring us in the face. And like I said, we have to look at how do we play with Ben with another big on the floor?” Vaughn told reporters, per the NY Post.

“You can only play five dudes out there at one time. We’ve got to start a certain group, we want certain dudes to play; how do we get all that to mesh within the course of a game and the season?

Simmons is getting back to his best. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

“Ben still has the ability to attack and have pace no matter who’s out there on the floor, especially the way teams are going to guard. So some nights when we do go small and we have more shooting out there, we have to take advantage of that.

“On the nights where Nic is with him, then we have to be better on the defensive end of the floor and allow us to get stops and run. So that’s the connection there.

“Then we can’t allow people to get to the paint as much or to the rim as much with Nic and Ben. … Then we’ve got to figure out, like I’ve talked about, the spacing around it, and not playing in the half-court.

“It’s staring us in the face that we are better at playing in transition and in full court basketball than in the half-court. And the sooner we realise that as a group, the better off we’re going to be.”

Originally published as ‘Explosive’ Ben Simmons leads Brooklyn Nets to first win of the season