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Philadelphia 76ers vs Minnesota Timberwolves

BEN Simmons had a bizarre hot and cold night at the office, forcing coach Brett Brown to address a concerning statline.

James McKern
7 min read
December 13, 2017 - 5:14PM
Ben Simmons has taken the NBA world by storm.
Ben Simmons has taken the NBA world by storm.

Live: 76ers vs Timberwolves

Ben Simmons and his Philadelphia 76ers came from behind to grab a much-needed win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.

PHILADELPHIA has climbed back into the top eaight teams in the Eastern Conference after coming from behind to snatch a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday (AEDT).

Ben Simmons had one of his quietest nights in the NBA, but he came alive when it mattered down the stretch to help the Sixers to a 118-112 win in overtime.

The Sixers came back from nine points down in the final quarter on the back of a Joel Embiid masterclass to send the game into OT, where the vicitors blew the Timberwolves off their own court.

The win snapped a four-match losing streak for Philadelphia.

4.50pm

Brett Brown addresses Ben Simmons struggle

Philadelphia coach Brett Brown has been forced to address Ben Simmons’ quite night in the NBA.

For just the second time in his career, Simmons was held to less than 10 points in an NBA game.

The Australian rookie finished with six points, eight assists and three rebounds, but also had seven turnovers. He did not score until the final three minutes of the fourth quarter as the Sixers rallied late to force the game into overtime.

It threatened to be his worst statline in the NBA until the game went into OT.

Just last week he finished his team’s win over Detroit with five points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

Brown dismissed a concerning question about Simmons performance in his post-match press conference saying his rookie point guard still found a way to make an impact late.

He also said he is not concerned with Simmons performance.

4.05pm

Simmons scores in dramatic Sixers overtime win

Ben Simmons finally came alive late in the contest, popping up under the rim again to score an easy bucket which put Philadelphia ahead 108-102 in overtime.

Simmons scored all six of his points after getting clean passes to him uncovered under the hoop.

Teammate Joel Embiid found him with making a back door cut and then nailed a massive three-point bomb to put the Sixers ahead 111-104 with two minutes remaining.

The Sixers extended their lead through Embiid and JJ Redick down the stretch in overtime, going on a 16-7 run in OT to silence the Minnesota crowd.

The went on to claim the win 118-112.

The win saw the Sixers climb back into the top eight teams in the east after snapping a four-match losing streak.

Embiid was the star for the away team, finishing with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Simmons, finished one of his quitest nights in the NBA with seven points, eight assists and three rebounds along with seven turnovers.

3.50pm

Simmons finally scores as game goes to overtime in frantic finish

The lead changed seven times inside the final three minutes of the fourth quarter in an incredible finish to regulation time.

Ben Simmons scored his first points — an uncontested jam after he was left uncovered under the rim — to put the Sixers in front 96-94 with just over one minute remaining.

The Australian again gave Philadelphia the go ahead bucket with just 30 seconds remaining when he was fouled in the act of a lay-up.

He had a chance to deliver a three-point play, but missed his free-throw to leave the Sixers in front 98-97 before Jimmy Butler nailed a three-point bomb to put Minnesota ahead 100-98 with 17 seconds remaining.

Joel Embiid was fouled on the Sixers next possession and hit both free-throws to tie the game 100-100 with 14 seconds remaining.

It gave Butler a final chance to win the game for the Timberwolves, but he tossed up a brick when he had a final mid-range jumper on the buzzer.

His miss on the buzzer sent the game into overtime.

Simmons’ missed free-throw would have been the difference between the two teams. He finished with four points, shooting two of six from the field with eight assists and two rebounds.

Minnesota had been in front by nine points earlier in the final term.

3.20pm

We’ve got a battle on our hands

The 76ers held the lead for a brief moment during the third quarter but head into the final term down by two points as the Wolves hold a slender 76-74 lead.

Simmons has yet to hit the scoreboard, after he only took one shot in the third but has managed to record eight assists.

With the turnovers continuing to pile up, the 76ers are somehow still in with a major shot of ending their losing streak against the Wolves.

Jimmy Butler leads all scorers in the game with 21 points, but was held to a modest three points during the third term as the 76ers made a concerted effort to slow him down.

Throughout the opening 25-games of his career, Simmons has only been held to single figure scoring once, in a game against the Detroit Pistons at the start of December when he scored five points.

3.00pm

The best in the league

Despite his struggles scoring the ball, Simmons is putting on a show with his passing abilities. With eight minutes to go in the third quarter he is already up to seven assists.

Having found teammate Richaun Holmes on several occasions, Simmons delivered the on-point alley-oop pass from halfcourt and extended the 76ers lead.

Although the 76ers have a whopping 15 turnovers and the offensive struggles of Simmons, they’re in with a big chance of snapping their four-game losing streak.

2.40pm

Simmons’ unwanted record

For the first time in his young NBA career, Ben Simmons has been held scoreless in the first half of a game.

Through the opening 25-games of his rookie campaign, Simmons had a scoring average of 10 points per game.

Unfortuantely the Timberwolves got the better of the youngster as he was held to zero points after three attempts from the floor.

He did manage to dish out four assists and pull down one rebound, however the first half was one to forget for Simmons.

Thankfully Joel Embiid has his game face on as he leads the team with 13 points and has also grabbed four rebounds.

The Timberwolves lead was cut in to by the 76ers but they still hold the 51-48 halftime advantage.

If the 76ers are wanting to finish over the top of the Wolves, they’ll have to come up with an answer for Jimmy Butler who leads all scorers with 18 points.

2.00pm

Wolves feasting on Philly mistakes

At the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves hold onto the 27-20 lead thanks to eight Philadelphia turnovers.

Against the young guns of the Wolves, Simmons and his fellow teammates struggled to get into any real offensive flow.

Simmons ended the opening term with only one rebound and one assist to his name while Joel Embiid led the scoring for the team with six points.

1.45pm

Sloppy start for 76ers

Three turnovers in the opening minutes of the game has the 76ers falling behind the Timberwolves early as Jimmy Butler makes them pay.

Simmons is lining up on point guard Jeff Teague and has delivered one assist to teammate Richaun Holmes.

Wolves lead 10-4 with nine minutes to play in the first quarter.

1.15pm

Ready to get the show started

Philly fans can rejoice, Joel Embiid is back in the starting line-up for the meeting against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

A focused Ben Simmons looks set and ready to show the Wolves why the NBA world has been clammering over his first 25-games in the league.

After LeBron James shared an image of himself with the youngster, in which he used the hashtag “young king”, Simmons will be keen to show his worth against another young up and coming team in the NBA.

1.00pm

Simmons can’t get 76ers across the line

Simmons did all that he could but came up short.
Simmons did all that he could but came up short.

NBA rookie Ben Simmons had 27 points and 10 assists in a dazzling display for the Philadelphia 76ers but 34 points from Jrue Holiday got the New Orleans Pelicans home 131-124.

The 12th double-double of Australian Simmons’s season was highlighted by a handful of explosive, driving dunks, including a reverse jam along the baseline that had his team within a point with 7mins 26 secs remaining. But Holiday scored 19 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter as the hosts overran the 76ers late in the game to hand them a third successive defeat. Anthony Davis added 29 points and DeMarcus Cousins 23 while Rajon Rondo returned with 13 points and 18 assists for the Pelicans.

JJ Redick had a team-high 28 for Philadelphia, who were without starting forward Robert Covington and centre Joel Embiid, due to back stiffness. Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons 91-80 to avenge a rare loss earlier in the season and improve their league-best record to 23-5.

The Pistons, meanwhile, have lost six straight for the first time since late in the 2014/15 season.

Al Horford had 18 points and Kyrie Irving scored 16 as five Celtics players reached double figures in a well-balanced performance.

Australian centre Aron Baynes had six points and a team-high 13 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan scored 13 of his 25 points in the third quarter as the Toronto Raptors cruised to a 102-87 defeat of the Sacramento Kings.

It was Toronto’s sixth-straight win to move to 17-7 and second in the eastern conference.

Victor Oladipo had a career-high 47 points and added seven rebounds and six assists to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 126-116 overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and Jimmy Butler scored 10 of his 22 in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks 97-92. Towns added 12 rebounds, including four on the offensive end, for his NBA- leading 21st double-double of the season.

Kristaps Porzingis had a game-high 30 points to get the New York Knocks past the Atlanta Hawks 111-107.

— AAP

Originally published as Philadelphia 76ers vs Minnesota Timberwolves

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