It wasn’t perfect, but Ben Simmons continues to show signs of life with the Australian at his aggressive best in the Brooklyn Nets’ 105-94 loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
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It was a battle between two of the league’s cellar dwellers and it showed early, with the Nets taking a 24-19 lead after a first quarter which saw both teams combine for 10 turnovers while going 3-for-19 from deep.
More than anything, Sunday’s game was an opportunity for younger players on both teams to make the most of extended minutes.
For Brooklyn, meanwhile, every game from this point is also a chance to put their veteran players in the shopfront window and while Cam Johnson has come up clutch a few times recently, he was ice-cold from downtown (2-for-9) against the Jazz.
That though was more a product of fellow trade candidate Dorian Finney-Smith being out, which stifled Brooklyn’s spacing and put even more defensive attention on Johnson.
There isn’t much of a trade market for Simmons, but he did his chances of piquing the interest of rival teams no harm on Sunday with another much-improved performance.
Turnovers were an issue, with Simmons committing six all up, but it was particularly promising to see the Australian getting to the rim early and often in what has been the biggest change in his game recently.
Simmons even got a fadeaway jumper to fall and finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds, 10 assists and two steals.
Most impressive though was the fact Simmons was getting to the free throw line plenty. In fact, he attempted six free throws and made five — Simmons’ most in a game since June 2021.
Simmons’ touch at the rim wasn’t always there but he has definitely been heading in the right direction since shifting into a more ball-dominant role following the Dennis Schroder trade.
Simmons has now scored double figures in three straight games and is averaging 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.3 steals in that period.
DYSON DANIELS EVERYWHERE IN HAWKS LOSS
Elsewhere, Dyson Daniels looked to be a chance of setting a career-high mark in steals before being given an early mark in Atlanta’s 128-112 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Daniels had six steals to go with 15 points, six assists, three rebounds, one block and five turnovers against a Grizzlies team that dominated from the jump and didn’t look back.
Daniels brought up his sixth steal with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter and was just one away from the career-high seven he had against Detroit.
There was every chance he could have passed that mark too given Memphis entered Sunday as the league’s second-most turnover prone team.
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But Daniels was substituted out of the game with six minutes left and the Grizzlies leading 114-92, bringing his night to an early end.
The Grizzlies, fresh off a 144-93 demolition job of Golden State, sit second in the Western Conference and were able to suffocate the Hawks despite being without lead guard Ja Morant.
Atlanta has its own injury concerns and was without Trae Young, Onyeka Okongwu and Kobe Bufkin on Sunday.
Young’s absence was particularly glaring, with the Hawks struggling to find much spark on offence early as the Grizzlies jumped out to a 12-2 lead.
Vit Krejci, having missed his last 11 3-point attempts before the Grizzlies game, splashed a triple to stop the Memphis run and the Hawks were able to claw their way back to 16-14.
It came after some deft defensive work from Daniels, who was matched onto Desmond Bane early on Sunday before being switched onto Scottie Pippen Jr. on one possession.
Daniels shadowed Pippen Jr. and eventually pressured him into a poor pass which the Australian deflected, leading to a Clint Capela dunk on the other end.
Daniels was also showing off his playmaking skills operating as one of the team’s primary ballhandlers with Young sidelined, creating good looks to assist on 3-pointers for both Krejci and Jalen Johnson before draining a triple of his own.
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Despite his efforts, the Grizzlies dominated on their way to a 43-27 lead after the first quarter, shooting 61 per cent from the field and making eight 3-pointers while seven turnovers from Atlanta certainly didn’t help.
It didn’t get any closer from there, with Memphis taking a 73-49 advantage into halftime off the back of a game-high 17 points from Pippen Jr.
The Hawks made the adjustment at the start of the third quarter by putting Daniels on Pippen Jr. and the Australian guard single-handedly sparked Atlanta to life with back-to-back steals, which he turned into five points.
Daniels also picked Pippen Jr.’s pocket soon after and then forced Jaylen Wells into a tough shot which the Grizzlies rookie air-balled.
The 21-year-old was given a taste of his own medicine at times, turning the ball over five times.
But on a whole it was an impressive performance from Daniels considering the added responsibility on both ends of the floor with Young unavailable.
OTHER SCORES AROUND THE NBA
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Magic 121 defeat Heat 114
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