Simmons, reserves inspire NBA All-Star win

Monday, 18 February 2019:

BEN SIMMONS #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on against the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
BEN SIMMONS #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on against the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


Ben Simmons has made an impressive NBA All-Star debut playing a key role in turning around an 18-point deficit to steer his team to victory.

Simmons' Team LeBron defeated Team Giannis 178-164 in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday despite trailing for most of the annual showcase of the NBA's best players.

The top All-Star vote getters from the Western and Eastern Conferences, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, selected and captained their squads.

Simmons had 10 points on five-from-five shooting, six rebounds and seven assists from just 16 minutes on the court.

"Being around so many great players, it makes you want to get better," Simmons said.

The Melbourne-born 22-year-old and star of the Philadelphia 76ers was instrumental in two major runs to set up the win, including a third-quarter 33-14 spurt when captain James and other starters on the bench.

Team Giannis had earlier jumped to an early lead with Antetokounmpo repeatedly rattling the rim with dunks, including a spectacular alley-oop off an extraordinary bounce pass from Steph Curry.

Curry bounced the pass high from one side of the key over his 206cm tall Golden State Warriors teammate, but All-Star opponent, Kevin Durant to Antetokounmpo.

"It was a pretty bang-bang play," Curry, who also battled with Warriors teammate Klay Thompson during the game, laughed.

Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 38 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and Curry pulled off circus-like plays on his way to 17 points and seven assists.

Durant was Team LeBron's top-scorer with 31 points and claimed the All-Star MVP award.

It was when Durant, James and other starters James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving were on the bench that the team's second unit, led by the playmaking of Simmons, went on the game-winning run.

"Honestly, I thought the key to the game was the second group that was out there - Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Klay Thompson, Ben Simmons," Team LeBron and Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

"Those guys just played with tremendous pace and we started making shots and the game turned."

Team Giannis' strong early start came from hot shooting from the Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton and Dallas Mavericks veteran Dirk Nowitzki.

Nowitzki, the 40-year-old, 14-time All-Star German who entered the NBA in 1998 and is likely playing his final season, dropped his first three three-pointers.

Middleton buried five of his first seven long bombs to give Team Giannis commanding 53-37 first-quarter and 95-82 halftime leads.






AAP