Ben Simmons is coming off perhaps his best game of the season, when the inconsistent big man had season highs in points (10) and rebounds (nine) in Tuesday’s home win over Charlotte.
The challenge for Simmons and the Nets has been his putting up those kinds of numbers — and playing solid defense — on a regular basis.
He’ll have some added motivation to put up back-to-back solid performances when the Nets visit Philadelphia on Friday night before a three-game western swing.
It will be Simmons’ first time back on the court at Wells Fargo Arena since he didn’t attempt a field goal or free throw, but had nine rebounds, five assists and four fouls in 13 minutes in a Nets win on Feb. 3 of last season.
In that game — his third in Philadelphia since being traded to the Nets — the 28-year-old was booed the first time he checked into the game off the bench in the opening quarter and heard more of them whenever he touched the ball.
“It’s funny to me,” Simmons said after that game. “I’ve got grown men pissed off and yelling at me. … It’s not that deep. It’s sports, but it comes with it, so I enjoy it.”
“He likes playing and he’s a competitor,’’ Cam Thomas said of Simmons. “He likes that kind of atmosphere. I’m sure he’ll be ready to go and have an impact and do everything for us on the court.”
Simmons has played three straight games for the first time this season after missing four of the team’s first dozen games.
With Nic Claxton listed as questionable for Friday’s game with a lower-back strain that’s kept him out for more than a week, there’s a chance Simmons could be tasked with guarding ex-teammate Joel Embiid.
Asked about the expectations for Simmons coming off his showing in the win over Charlotte, head coach Jordi Fernandez said after Thursday’s practice in Brooklyn, “I want the same game as the last game [from Simmons] or even better. That’s the type of player he is. You can always ask him for more because he’s that good.”
Or he can be that good, at least.
He finished with no points in 22 minutes in Sunday’s loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Fernandez is hoping to see more of what Simmons showed against Charlotte.
“It’s just his presence in that last game, his physicality, his engagement,’’ Fernandez said. “I was very excited to see that. I told him that because he impacted the rest of the group. It’s that energy of, ‘I want to play with him because he’s gonna give me the ball. He’s gonna be physical on defense.’”
The Nets will have a chance to win consecutive games for just the second time this season Friday when they go up against a 76ers team that is in free-fall and will be without Paul George, who suffered a bone bruise to his knee on Wednesday night.
While the Nets lost five of six prior to their victory over the Hornets, the 2-12 Sixers are in disarray.
They’ve got the worst record in the league and dropped five straight games after entering the season with championship aspirations.