Ben Simmons shows signs of life amid swirling trade rumours

Ben Simmons may find himself in the thick of the NBA rumour mill, but the Aussie delivered a statement in a big way for the Nets.

Ben Simmons showed signs of life and a Nets star on the trade market made a statement.

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Plus Golden State was mauled in its star recruit’s first game, and a Victor Wembanyama masterclass led San Antonio past Dyson Danielsl Hawks in overtime. Read on for our NBA Wrap!

SIMMONS SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE AS TRADE CANDIDATE MAKES STATEMENT IN WIN

Ben Simmons showed flashes of his best as the Brooklyn Nets finished strong to defeat the Toronto Raptors 101-94 on Friday at Scotiabank Arena.

Simmons had 12 points in the win to go with seven assists, five rebounds and five turnovers while potential trade candidates Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith came up clutch down the stretch to seal the win for Brooklyn.

Johnson was particularly impressive, scoring a team-high 29 points, while Finney-Smith had a crucial block on a Gradey Dick triple that would have trimmed Brooklyn’s lead to one late in the final quarter.

Simmons, who is playing a more prominent role following the Dennis Schroder trade, has now scored 10 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time since last October.

The Raptors, who fielded their youngest starting line-up in franchise history, were first on the board with a Dick triple before the Nets jumped out to an early 7-3 lead, getting stops on the defensive end to help get their transition offence going.

That was the case as Johnson pressured Ja’Kobe Walter on one possession before blocking his attempted shot, teaming up with Ben Simmons to steal the ball as the Australian attacked the basket and finished on the other end.

The Raptors answered back later in emphatic fashion as Dick soared for the putbank dunk, before the Nets responded on the other end when Simmons put the perfect amount of touch on the lob pass to Nic Claxton for the slam.

Ben was on a roll against the Raptors. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

Toronto had a 12-9 lead when Nets coach Jordi Fernandez called the first timeout of the game.

While Simmons has at times been too pass-happy and not aggressive enough to open games, that wasn’t the case on Friday. In fact, the three-time All-Star at one point fooled the Raptors defence with the pass fake to then finish at the rim.

Simmons checked out of the game midway through the first quarter with four points, two rebounds, an assist and a pair of turnovers.

The game was tied after the first quarter at 24-24, which was honestly flattering for Brooklyn considering the Nets had shot 40 per cent from the field and 18.2 per cent from deep while committing six turnovers.

The Nets were dealt a setback early in the second quarter as Claxton was ejected for throwing a ball into the stands after he was intentionally fouled on a drive to the rim.

He appeared to be upset about a no-call on a missed shot on the prior possession and with Claxton out of the picture, the Nets had to heavily lean on Day’Ron Sharpe to fill the void at centre.

The only problem? Sharpe already had four fouls with five minutes left in the first half, while Simmons – who the Nets had used as a point centre at times earlier in the season – was already their most established option at point guard after Schroder was traded.

Despite those issues in the frontcourt, the Nets were still able to take full advantage of a Jakob Poeltl-less Raptors team, crashing the glass to out-rebound Toronto 31-16 in the first half on their way to a 52-46 lead.

Simmons finds himself in the thick of the rumour mill. Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP

That ended up being the difference between the two teams early, with the Nets still struggling to get their shots to fall but the Raptors weren’t faring any better, going 37 per cent from the field.

Johnson (11 points) led all scorers while Simmons was at his aggressive best, getting downhill often to finish the half on nine points on seven field goal attempts to go with four assists and three rebounds.

Johnson, who has been the subject of trade speculation, continued to be Brooklyn’s most effective offensive weapon when the third quarter got underway.

Otherwise, without Schroder operating pick-and-roll actions, the Nets’ offence often spluttered in the halfcourt with Simmons as the primary ball handler.

Conversely, some key plays from Dick and Ochai Agbaji helped Toronto open up a 76-70 lead entering the final quarter.

The Nets needed a spark to open the fourth and went on a 14-5 run to tie it at 86-86, with Simmons again driving to the rim for the score and later linking up with Shake Milton for the layup.

It was then the veterans down the stretch who came up big for the Nets, with Johnson making a pair of buckets while Finney-Smith blocked a Dick triple that would have made things interested.

STEPH, DRAYMOND HIT HISTORIC LOW IN HUMILIATING WARRIORS LOSS

Elsewhere, the Memphis Grizzlies have sent a terrifying statement to the rest of the NBA by demolishing the Golden State Warriors 144-93.

It was a horror show for Golden State, with both Steph Curry and Draymond Green failing to make a field goal in the same game for the first time in their careers.

Curry went 0-for-7, finishing with two points after making a pair of free throws, while Green (0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls) had a night to forget.

It continued a rough slide for the Warriors, who have now lost nine of their last 11 games, with new addition Dennis Schroder struggling too, going 2-for-12 from the field on his way to five points.

Draymond and the Warriors had themselves a nightmare. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

The Grizzlies set the tone early, opening up a 37-15 lead after a dominant first quarter which saw Golden State miss 19 of its first 23 shots.

Memphis, on the other hand, made seven 3-pointers and was able to generate plenty of open looks through its hustle plays on the defensive end, generating six steals and four blocks.

That allowed the Grizzlies to play with pace, leaning into one of their biggest strengths as a team that thrives in the transition game.

The bench was particularly impressive in the opening quarter, scoring 24 of the Grizzlies’ 37 points, and it didn’t get any better in the second quarter for Golden State.

The Warriors found themselves on the wrong end of a 69-38 deficit by halftime and couldn’t get any closer, with the Grizzlies only adding to their lead despite losing Ja Morant (back soreness) after just 17 minutes of action from their superstar guard.

WEMBY EXPLODE AS SPURS DOWN HAWKS IN OT

Victor Wembanyama exploded for 42 points to help San Antonio take down Dyson Daniels and the Atlanta Hawks 133-126 in overtime.

Wembanyama stacked up 42 points on 13-of-24 shooting with seven triples, six rebounds, fie assists, two steals and five blocks in a dominant performance, while Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan scored 23 and 20 respectively.

De’Andre Hunter continued his strong form with 27 points off the bench — one of four Hawks to score 20-plus — including 23 points and 16 assists from Trae Young, who hurt his ankle but returned.

It was a quiet performance from Daniels, registering four points, five rebounds and a steal in 28 minutes while bothered by foul trouble at Atlanta fell to 14-13 and Spurs improved to 13-13.

It’s Wemby’s world. Ronald Cortes/Getty Images/AFP

First quarter turnovers hurt the Hawks as San Antonio pushed out to an early 20-12 lead.

Daniels drew two fouls in the first term, forcing him to come out of the game at the 6.40 mark.

The Spurs led 36-29 at the first change behind the lead of Wembanyama — with 14 points and two blocks — including converting a four-point play inside the final 33 seconds.

Atlanta came out breathing fire in the second quarter with an 11-0 run in two minutes including back-to-back threes from DeAndre Hunter and Larry Nance Jr to give the visitors a 40-36 lead.

San Antonio swiftly responded with a 9-0 run though to regain the lead at 45-40.

A game of runs continued, with Atlanta going on a 9-0 streak to lead 49-48 with five minutes left in the second term. The visitors closed out the first half in emphatic style to take a 66-60 lead at the main break.

San Antonio regained control in a more hotly contested third term. A Sochan three late in the term followed by a Stephon Castle dunk gave the Spurs a 90-87 lead at the last change.

Hunter started the fourth quarter hot with seven points in two and a half minutes to give Atlanta a 94-90 buffer.

Wembanyama soon got going with a quick nine points in just over two minutes to even the scores at 101-101 with 5:46 remaining.

Trae put the Hawks on his back. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)

The Spurs got out to a six-point lead before back-to-back threes to Nance and Hunter tied the game at 107-107 with 3:23 to play.

Young finished a big-and one play before burying a deep step back three to give the Hawks a 115-112 buffer with 1:26 to play.

It turned into a 3-point shootout as Devin Vassell, Jalen Johnson and Chris Paul all hit successive threes — the latter’s a four-point play as San Antonio took a 119-118 cushion inside the last minute.

A Young miss gave San Antonio the ball back as Wembanyama was fouled, splitting his free throws as the Spurs lead stood at 120-118.

Hunter flew to the rim with a huge slam with Wembanyama contesting the shot before the two exchanged some heated words afterwards, resulting in a double technical foul.

A Chris Paul entry pass to Wembanyama with 11 seconds left was intercepted by Nance, forcing a turnover after a successful coach’s challenge by Quin Snyder.

But Youn’s miss at the other end sent the game into overtime.

Wembanyama scored San Antonio’s first five points including a big slam off a Paul assist, which put the hosts up 125-122 with just over three minutes on the clock.

The star Frenchman wasn’t done there, hitting a deep three followed by a Keldon Johnson bucket to help the Spurs lead 130-126.

Paul delivered a dagger with a step back 3-pointer towards the end of the shot clock to secure a big win for the Spurs.

ALL RESULTS

HORNETS 114 WIZARDS 123

THUNDER 105 MAGIC 99

JAZZ 126 PISTONS 119

NETS 101 RAPTORS 94

BULLS 117 CELTICS 108

HAWKS 126 SPURS 133 (OT)

WARRIORS 93 GRIZZLIES 144

PELICANS 113 ROCKETS 133

CLIPPERS 118 MAVERICKS 95

PACERS 120 SUNS 111

KNICKS 133 TIMBERWOLVES 107

NUGGETS 124 TRAIL BLAZERS 126

LAKERS - KINGS

Originally published as Ben Simmons shows signs of life amid swirling trade rumours