Simmons' 76ers dump Nets in NBA scrap

Sunday, 21 April 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 wore a jacket emblazoned with "lover" in his post-game press conference but there is little love shared between the Australian star's Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets.

A melee, with Simmons in the thick of it, erupted and spilled into the crowd in Saturday's NBA play-off showdown in Brooklyn.

The 76ers did gather themselves to defeat the Nets 112-108 in game four of the eastern conference series to take a 3-1 lead.

They can eliminate Brooklyn and advance to the second round with a win in Tuesday's game five in Philadelphia.

"It was a wild game," Simmons told reporters.

"There was a lot of stuff going on early on and I think we maintained our mindset with the game and kept level-headedness."

Nets veteran Jared Dudley and Sixers centre Joel Embiid were at the centre of the drama but it was .

When Joel Embiid inflicted a heavy foul on Jarrett Allen midway in the third-quarter, the Nets Jared Dudley took exception and ran in to push the Sixers All Star.

Jimmy Butler retaliated by shoving Dudley before a mass of players and a referee fell into the first row of the crowd behind the basket.

Dudley and Butler were ejected.

Game five promises to be explosive, with Embiid and Dudley engaging in a war of words post game.

Simmons had 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while Embiid had 31 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks.

Australian guard Patty Mills delivered inspirational plays but they were not enough for his San Antonio Spurs as they fell 117-103 to the Denver Nuggets.

Mills had 12 points, with six coming from free throws as he put his body on the line charging to the basket or drawing contact attempting three-pointers.

The Nuggets secured their first play-off victory in San Antonio since 2012 to square their best-of-seven western conference series at 2-2, with game five in Denver on Tuesday.

Meanwhile James Harden endured a nightmare shooting night but the Houston Rockets still collected the win to push Joe Ingles' Utah Jazz to the brink of elimination.

The Rockets won 104-101 in a physical game three in Salt Lake City on Saturday to extend their series lead to 3-0.

Harden, who averaged 36.1 points a game this season, missed his first 15 field goals - the most consecutive misses to start a playoff game in 20 years.

Ingles also had a rough shooting night making just three of nine field goals while Donovan Mitchell had his best game of the series with 34 points.

Thon Maker's Detroit Pistons are also on the verge of being swept after they suffered another lopsided loss to the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks won 119-103 in Detroit to extend their series lead to 3-0.






AAP






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