LeBron’s Cavs thump Simmons’ 76ers; Aussie rookie injured

Ben Simmons’ boyhood dream of facing idol LeBron James became a nightmare as he endured the worst game of his career.

Dario Saric tips the ball in ahead of Jae Crowder. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

THE master schooled the apprentice as LeBron James and Ben Simmons went head-to-head in their first NBA clash.

James, the four-time NBA MVP, scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers (13-7) stretched their winning streak to eight with a 113-91 blowout of the Philadelphia 76ers (11-8).

Simmons endured the worst night of his young career, scoring a season-low 10 points to go with eight boards and two assists.

After missing the previous game against the Magic with an elbow injury, Simmons also has a fresh concern. He exited this contest with five minutes remaining in the final quarter after spraining his right ankle. He remains questionable for Thursday’s game against Washington.

#Sixers: X-ray of Ben Simmons' sprained right ankle was negative. He'll be re-evaluated Tuesday.

— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) November 28, 2017

Hope my lil bro @BenSimmons25 is alright

— Tristan Thompson (@RealTristan13) November 28, 2017

James was all class when asked about Simmons post-game. “First of all, I’m honoured a young gifted kid like him would even allow me to be part of his life and be able to mentor him and be a big brother to him,” James said.

“I will continue to do that as long as he would like me to. Second of all, it’s never about me versus Ben, it was Cavs versus 76ers and that was our mindset coming into this game.”

#Sixers Brown on Simmons vs LeBron: ‘It looked like it should be. Watching those two together interests me.’

— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) November 28, 2017

Joel Embiid (30 points, 11 rebounds) was the only Sixer to come ready to play as Robert Covington (two points, 0/9 threes) and JJ Reddick (11 points, 4/16 from the field) endured tough nights. Philly was 3/28 from three.

The Cavs received great production from their bench, which produced 57 points on the back of strong games from Dwyane Wade (15 points), Jeff Green (14 points) and Channing Frye (12 points).

FIRST QUARTER

LeBron James drove straight at Ben Simmons in the first quarter (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

The King was ready. Simmons got an early taste of what it’s like to stand in front of James when he has a full head of steam — and it was tough.

James scored the Cavs’ first four baskets, including two while driving at Simmons, to help the visitors grab a 9-4 lead.

Simmons followed a James triple with a basket of his own to gain a footing in the contest and then the next time James drove he refused to let the 32-year-old score, hitting him with a strong foul.

LeBron is going at Simmons like 'I'm the King, youngster.' He has 10 of #Cavs' 12 points.

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) November 28, 2017

But that didn’t slow down the three-time champ, who hit his second three-pointer soon after to take his tally to 13 points in the Cavs’ 15-12 lead.

Philly’s broadcast team wondered whether James was showing his annoyance to pre-game questions about how he compared to Simmons. “They did it by asking LeBron James about Ben Simmons and now look what he’s doing,” Alaa Abdelnaady said.

Simmons wasn’t playing so bad himself though. He threaded a low pass to Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot for his first assist before following a missed alley oop dunk from James with a driving lay-up as the Sixers went on a 10-0 run to grab a 22-19 lead. Both players spent time on the bench late in the quarter as the Cavs’ second unit responded with a 10-0 run of their own.

SECOND QUARTER

James continued to sit as the Cavs’ bench players maintained their bright showing.

Simmons scored a nice right-handed layup in traffic but was unable to slow down Dwyane Wade, who rushed to 12 points — including several baskets while being guarded by the young Aussie — as Cleveland opened a 41-28 advantage.

LeBron AND Wade are abusing Ben Simmons

— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) November 28, 2017

D Wade going to work on Ben SImmons. Seems to be a theme from the #Cavs go at Ben.

— Clement Townsend (@ClementTV_) November 28, 2017

James re-entered the game with 7:08 remaining in the half and made a 15-footer off a feed from Wade to make it 44-33.

Simmons took a quick rest before serving up a delicious alley oop pass to Joel Embiid — who messed up the finish.

The Sixers started 0/11 from the three-point line but were forcing Cleveland into repeat turnovers as they closed to 48-43.

The final possession of the half saw James in isolation at the top of the key against Simmons. James missed his step-back three-point attempt but chased a long rebound down to the corner and nailed the buzzer-beater to keep the Cavs in charge.

LeBron with the casual assist to himself to beat the buzzer 👑 pic.twitter.com/uAs8FNogav

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 28, 2017

THIRD QUARTER

Joel Embiid (21) had a huge third stanza. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The Simmons-James contest continued to go the veteran’s way on the first possesion of the third as the Aussie was called for a dubious charge while driving at The King.

Embiid continued to lead Philly but a James dunk and three JR Smith triples had Cleveland up 66-52.

TJ McConnell ended Philly’s drought from deep with 7:40 left in the quarter and JJ Reddick followed it with one of his own as the hosts closed to 66-60.

Kevin Love hit his first three of the game after four misses but was in trouble with four fouls and sat soon after. Embiid was everywhere for the home side, diving on the floor and cleaning up the boards while taking his points tally to 26 as the deficit closed to 72-69.

But as it did in the opening two quarters, Philly failed to finish as Cleveland regained a 13-point buffer.

FOURTH QUARTER

Simmons finally broke free of his shackles early in the fourth, scoring consecutive dunks to hit double figures.

But back-to-back threes by Channing Frye and Kyle Korver forced a Philly timeout as they trailed 91-77 with 9:47 remaining.

Two more triples from Korver and James extended the cushion to 20 points as Cleveland’s three-point shooting edge (14/35 to 2/23) took a toll.

Long-range specialists Robert Covington and JJ Reddick were a combined 1/13 as Kevin Love stretched Cleveland's lead to 104-81 with 4:39 on the clock.

#Cavs made Redick and Covington so uncomfortable. RoCo's fouls hurt him too. But that was so important in restricting the Philly offense.

— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) November 28, 2017

That was enough for James, who headed to the bench for good with 30 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in the bag. Simmons was also pulled after spraining his right ankle, leaving him with a career-low 10 points to go with eight rebounds and two assists.

The blowout continued as both teams cleared their bench.