NBA: Ben handed a LeBron lesson

A humbling defeat to LeBron James’ Cavaliers has left Ben Simmons with a few psychological wounds and a bung ankle.

Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons (25) goes up for a shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s name comes from the Greek word phileo, meaning love, and adelphos, meaning brother. It was so coined in 1682 because the religiously minded William Penn wanted it to be a place where people could worship without persecution. It’s unknown if the churches on the banks of the Delaware River are still pulling a crowd … but the pews at the Wells Fargo Center are being occupied at a record-breaking rate as Ben Simmons turns the 76ers into NBA playoff contenders.

Maybe. Yesterday’s humbling defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers left Simmons licking a few psychological wounds and limping on a sprained right ankle. To start at the start, this had promised to be a defining evening. Adelphos said he’d been feeling the phileo as the Sixers went from having the worst home crowd figures in the NBA to the second best.

“Our goal is to win the championship for as long as we can keep everybody together,” Simmons said. “That’s our goal, to win it all. Everybody loves being here. Everybody loves the coaches here, Bryan (Colangelo, the general manager), all the guys up top, they’re all good people. I think it just takes time, and that’s our goal.

“Philly fans are the best. They show a lot of love wherever I am. Whether I’m at dinner, walking down the street, coming out of my apartment, they show a lot of love.”

Simmons trotted out to butt heads with LeBron James, who said after the pre-game shootaround: “It’s not about me versus Ben. It’s about the Cavs versus the 76ers.”

Sixers coach Brett Brown added: “This is like NBA royalty. And you don’t back away from it. You’re not intimidated by it. You embrace it. I said a while ago, the group isn’t coming here looking for autographs. We’re here to win a game.”

But rather than proving beyond reasonable doubt that the 76ers were the real deal, they were schooled by the king in a comprehensive 113-91 result. The Australian rookie sustained an injury that could send him on a sabbatical for a little while as James flexed his considerable muscle.

He scored the Cavs’ first nine points. He scored 13 of their first 15 points. The other two points came from a James assist. He finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds as Simmons limped away with 10 points, eight rebounds and a bung ankle. The greats revel in putting young blokes back in their boxes and the message from James was clear enough. If Simmons’ time is coming, it hasn’t come yet. Initial X-rays on Simmons’ ankle were inconclusive. He was to be reassessed overnight.

On a night when the sold-out Wells Fargo Center was rocking like it was the Allen Iverson days all over again, James said: “My teammates tell me to set the tone early. They say it starts with me and trickles down to everybody else. I felt good. My teammates fed off me.

“I’m honoured that a young gifted man like himself (Simmons) would even allow me to be part of his life and allow me to mentor him and be like a big brother to him. You know, I’m honoured by that and will continue to do that as long as he’d like me to. But I’m trying to play at a high level every night so it wasn’t about the opponent tonight. I come in with a competitive nature to go at everybody. Fun? No, I don’t have fun with my opponents.”

Rather than being flattered by constant comparisons to the all-time great James, Simmons said the all-time great should be offended by the comparisons to him. “I’d be annoyed if somebody was comparing me to a rookie,” Simmons said. “You shouldn’t compare me to somebody like that.”

But all his confidence and long-term ambition was revealed by his next line: “Not yet.”

The Sixers pulled to within three points of the Cavs in the third quarter but they were cruelled by making just three of their 28 three-point attempts. Simmons nailed two slam dunks in the fourth quarter before he was forced off the floor.

“Tonight we did not play our best basketball,” coach Brown said. “On both sides of the ball we struggled. I really don’t know about Ben’s ankle. I walked by him and he had his foot in ice.

“You see him going against LeBron, I know the respect Ben has for LeBron. They’re represented by the same people and they hang out in the summer. It looked like it should be. It didn’t look unnatural.

“Ben and LeBron. LeBron and Ben. It didn’t look unnatural. I think the more you watch LeBron play, he plays with such confidence and pace and now it’s backed up by a three-point shot and skill package, it’s just a hard guard (for Simmons). Watching those two together, it interests me.”