PHILADELPHIA (AP) — It was dubbed “Boo Ben” night in Philadelphia as former 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons returned for the first time since being traded last month. Instead, the Brooklyn Nets turned the fans on the 76ers.
Kevin Durant scored 18 of his 25 points in a dominating first half before the Nets completed a 129-100 blowout win over the Sixers. Seth Curry added 24 points, and Kyrie Irving had 22 for the Nets, who finally looked like the team expected to challenge for the NBA’s Eastern Conference title.
Simmons watched from the bench as he continues to recover from a back injury. He received plenty of vitriol from the crowd, but he had the last laugh.
Joel Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers, but James Harden finished with just 11 points.
Fans did much booing of the home team, which trailed 72-51 at halftime and were down by 32 in the third quarter.
In the other NBA game on Thursday, Steph Curry dropped in 34 points and the Warriors closed on a 13-0 run to beat the Nuggets, 113-102. Jordan Poole had 21 points, and Jonathan Kuminga and Klay Thompson added 18 each as Golden State salvaged the final of the four-game season series.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, just missing his 19th triple double of the season.
Cavaliers sign Moses Brown
CLEVELAND (AP) — With All-Star center Jarrett Allen sidelined indefinitely with a broken finger, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed big man Moses Brown to a 10-day contract.
The 7-foot-2 Brown appeared in 26 games for the Dallas Mavericks this season. The 22-year-old showed promise last season with Oklahoma City by averaging 8.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in 22 games.
