The Philadelphia 76ers were without Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey on Wednesday. The Brooklyn Nets, on the other hand, had their entire Big 3 available as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons took the court in what should have been a mismatch. Well, the Sixers never got the memo.
Despite not having their stars available due to various injuries, the Sixers still managed to escape with a win on Ben Simmons' high-profile return to Philly. It was a total upset, to say the least, as the shorthanded Sixers took down a team that many consider being one of the favorites to win it all this year.
Unsurprisingly, NBA Twitter went full savage on the Nets after their disappointing loss:
Bad, bad loss for the Nets. They let a motivated Sixers team playing without Embiid, Harden and Maxey take control in the second half and dominate. The defense was bad, but the effort on that end was worse. Philly repeatedly out-hustled and out-worked this Nets group.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) November 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/LuvvvDreww/status/1595246405454553091
The Nets just put their subs in. The 76ers played the whole game with their subs.
— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) November 23, 2022
The 76ers just beat the Nets without Harden, Embiid and Maxey… 🤯 pic.twitter.com/a3LldQcYo4
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 23, 2022
Tobias Harris led the charge for the Sixers in this one, going for a game-high 24 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Harris actually suffered an injury earlier in the game, but he was still able to gut it out to lead his team to victory. Four other Philly players scored at least 16 points against a lackluster Nets defense.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving combined for 43 points against the Sixers, but their collective effort clearly wasn't enough to help the Nets. For his part, Simmons actually had another nice game against his former team, putting up 11 points, seven rebounds, 11 assists, three steals, and three blocks.
Ben Simmons was about the only Net who played well enough to win. Rest of team was basically an embarrassment.
— Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) November 23, 2022
The Sixers have now snapped the Nets' two-game winning streak as Brooklyn goes back to the drawing board to try and figure out this perplexing loss. Philly, on the other hand, bounces back from Saturday's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 76ers return to action on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets.
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