Getty Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, who repeatedly mocked Jared Dudley
After a very public back and forth between the two players, Ben Simmons and Jared Dudley met once again in game three of the Eastern Conference NBA Playoffs. Simmons wasn’t a very big fan of how Jared Dudley explained to the press that by forcing Simmons into halfcourt sets, you could turn him into an average player.
“It’s coming from Jared Dudley, come on.” Simmons abruptly said.
In a scrappy game three, Dudley struggled to score and Simmons thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.
Watch the Video of Ben Simmons Laughing at Jared Dudley and Then Staring Him Down After An Airball
First, we can see Simmons laughing in Dudley’s face as he fouls JJ Redick on a three-pointer.
Simmons laughing at Dudley arguing with the refs 😂 t.co/xDOiV3nomr
Not long after, Dudley would airball a three-pointer, prompting the TNT camera crew to immediately cut to Ben Simmons for a reaction. Simmons wouldn’t disappoint as he slowly turned and just stared at Dudley.
The cut right to Simmons after the Dudley airball 😂 t.co/4wz4S2qSZp
Ben Simmons’ Big Night
Down star big man Joel Embiid, the Sixers were desperately looking for another one of their star players to step up and fill the void. While Tobias Harris was the hot hand early, Ben Simmons willed the Sixers down the stretch and put up an incredible 31 points on 11-13 shooting. JJ Redick also chipped in with a surprisingly efficient 26 points on just 17 shots.
Stepping up to fill the scoring void left by Embiid, arguably no player also had a bigger impact on the rest of the game compared to Simmons. Doing solid work on the glass along with his usual pass-happy tendencies, Simmons put up an extremely well-rounded offensive performance.
Especially after the comments from Jared Dudley, Simmons looked to be on a mission to prove his doubters wrong. While he didn’t necessarily prove much in terms of his performance in half-court sets, Simmons was able to effectively push the pace at will against an overmatched Nets team.
Dudley wasn’t entirely wrong though. Simmons may not find the going any easier against some of the Eastern Conference’s premier teams moving forward and will undoubtedly need to prove he can still function as a competent offensive weapon when teams take away his ability to run in transition. Simmons was exposed in this way against the Boston Celtics last year and more talented teams should be able to use that against him – remember, the Nets weren’t even supposed to make the playoffs this year!
With the Sixers picking up the win on the road and taking back home court advantage, it looks more than likely that the Sixers have a second-round date with the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors should pose an incredibly difficult stylistic matchup for Simmons and the Sixers and it should be interesting to see how Simmons performs against an elite defensive unit this time around.