Ben Simmons put on his best offensive display yet in the Brooklyn Nets’ 123-103 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
In just his fifth game after a lengthy lay-off due to injury, Simmons finished with 13 points, three rebounds and five assists.
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Simmons’ 13 points was also his largest haul of the season, beating his previous best of 11 points against Charlotte back in October.
Simmons’ array of offensive skills was on show for all to see, including a delightful 10-foot fadeaway early in the fourth quarter.
The Aussie drove with the ball at San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson before spinning back inside and firing off a shot while falling back to evade Dominick Barlow.
Simmons also delivered a thunderous dunk in the third quarter when he produced a perfect give-and-go with Day’Ron Sharpe, ghosting in completely unguarded before latching onto a floated pass to slam the ball into the hoop.
It wasn’t all perfect for the Aussie though as he lead the Nets in turnovers with four.
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OKC COACH LEAPS TO GIDDEY’S DEFENCE AMID AUSSIE STAR’S SHOOTING WOES
Josh Giddey’s shooting woes were on full display as the Oklahoma City Thunder went down 146-111 to the Dallas Mavericks.
Giddey finished the contest with just 11 points as he missed a staggering 11 shots from 14 attempts (21.4 per cent), including six failed efforts from three-point range.
It’s not like his shots were of supreme difficulty, either.
One such moment occurred during the third quarter when the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren passed the ball to Giddey, who was wide open in the left corner of the court.
Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic didn’t even bother trying to shut down Giddey, who clanked his effort onto the rim.
It wasn’t the first time a team didn’t feel the need to close the space on Giddey whenever he has wide-open looks.
However, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault felt the Aussie still performed his role effectively as he wanted to create a “diversity of attacks” to keep teams guessing.
“I mean, we’ve seen it all year, so it’s nothing new for us,” Daigneault said in his post-match press conference.
“We want to have a diversity of attacks against it, which includes the cutting, includes using him (Giddey) as a screen depending on who the five is. We thought that was effective today.
“And then he’s just got to shoot when he has the open shot.
“It was effective today for a number of reasons outside of just him. We’ve seen it a lot, we’ve attacked it well in the past. We’ve got to keep learning from it and keep growing.”
Aside from Giddey’s shooting woes, the Thunder’s offence was largely kept quiet by the Mavericks as superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander mustered just 25 points, while Chet Holmgren enjoyed a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
On the flip side, the Mavericks enjoyed an offensive explosion as they outscored the Thunder 75-49 in the second half.
Central to the onslaught were Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who racked up 32 and 25 points respectively while Daniel Gafford chipped in with a respectable 19-point haul.
As for Aussie gun Josh Green, he finished just six points, two rebounds and two assists.
FULL NBA SCORES
Mavericks 146-111 Thunder
Clippers 112-106 Pistons
Nets 123-103 Spurs
Wizards v Sixers
Hornets 115-106 Grizzlies
Magic v Bulls
Knicks v Pacers
Raptors v Cavaliers
Hawks v Rockets
Warriors v Suns
Trail Blazers v Pelicans
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