Simmons throws torches at Nets

"Ben was exceptional," said Brown. "They started trying to insult him, I think that at that time he had not missed a free kick, and he missed both after having intentionally but he did two more to follow up.

"And so, whether you look at his self-confidence, his body language walking right up to the line or just with an organic game, I give him a huge amount of credit.We needed all this tonight, especially without Joel. "

Entering the game, Jared Dudley, from the Sims and Nets Reserve, exchanged verbal comments. Dudley said Simmons was simply "average" in half-court situations. Simmons ignored this remark by saying, "It's from Jared Dudley, come on."

Then, a few hours before the outbreak, a "missing" poster mocking Simmons' non-existent shot was affixed to a door sign outside the Barclays Center. Jokingly, the poster offered a $ 26,620,450 reward for Simmons' shooting recovery – the amount of the goalie's rookie contract.

Brooklyn fans naturally made Simmons the target of their anger, throwing him eagerly every time he touched the ball.

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Ben Simmons diverts questions about his beef with Jared Dudley and points out that he "does not worry about that."

Simmons mostly let his game speak. Even though Dudley finished with a zero point on a draw for two with two turnovers in 17 minutes, Simmons did not add to the war of words after the match.

"I do not have energy for that," Simmons said. "Honestly, it's done.People will say what they mean.It's what.I just play."

Even though Simmons had some demonstrative gestures throughout the game – sag after a dunk, stay suspended on one edge and cast a stare at Dudley – Dudley said he was not talking trashily.

"No, no jokes," he says. "If you look at the whole quote – you can watch it if need be, justifying its game or what you want to do – do you prefer to keep it in the full yard 100 miles to the hour? Or do you prefer to keep it So I feel really confident when I'm here to protect him, but you have to credit him, he has played phenomenally, the whole team has played phenomenally and deserved that victory. "

Simmons was excellent in the midfield Thursday, finishing 9-11 in half-play (2-2 in transition) and distributing four of his nine assists, according to data compiled by ESPN Stats & Info. His 85% field mark was the highest percentage of goals scored in a 30-point playoff game by a Sixers player over the past 35 seasons. And the Nets shot 8-24, while Simmons was the lead defender of Game 3.

Brown said that Simmons' age is sometimes overlooked when his critics judge him.

"I think we forget that he's 22 and we're starting to talk about growing his jump shot and all that stuff," Brown said. "Everyone talks about it, and then we see it coming out and doing the free throws." Whether it's booing or something else is happening with regard to the observation Ben's meticulous, he is incredibly confident in himself.