NEW YORK _ Ben Simmons played so many roles, all well. Brooklyn came out with an interesting defensive concept on Simmons _ try to have a big man on him at all times. Whether in a zone or man-to-man, the Nets' Jarret Allen was often matched up with Simmons. The problem is that Simmons is took quick for a big man. If a smaller man is on him, he will post up. In the first half Simmons only took six shots, but had 15 points.
Simmons has been enjoying great success driving down the middle of the lane and the Nets weren't able to stop him. In the event a smaller defender was on him, Simmons still thrived. In the second quarter, with 6-7 Taurean Prince on him, Simmons used a Euro step to get around Prince (who is a solid defender) and finished with a dunk. In the third quarter he scored on a driving layup down the middle right over Allen.
No matter who is guarding Simmons, one of his underrated skills is moving without the ball. In the first quarter, he slipped by the defense to finish an alley-oop dunk on a pass from Tobias Harris. To show his versatility, late in the third quarter Simmons came in and was used at center and almost immediately on a pick-and-roll, he ended up scoring a driving layup over rookie Nicolas Claxton. Simmons added a pick-and-roll dunk on a pass from Furkan Korkmaz.
With just 2.4 seconds left, Simmons beat Claxton on a pick-and-roll, and drew a Flagrant 1 foul. in the beginning of the fourth quarter, he scored on a hook shot over former Sixer Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, then made a steal and fed Matisse Thybulle for a dunk.
