5 days Ago
Ben Simmons had eight assists and four rebounds in a scoreless outing on Monday as the Australian seemingly had another moment to forget in Brooklyn’s 114-104 loss to the New York Knicks. Average of 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs, including every game of the NBA Conference Finals & NBA Finals LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
Although on closer inspection of the play in question, it was easy to see why Simmons reacted the way he did. Simmons immediately went viral on his first play of the game as the Nets generated a fastbreak opportunity, with the Australian stopping to look for the pass instead of trying to finish through contact at the rim. Although in this case Simmons’ actions could definitely be defended given the fact he had two defenders in front of him and, theoretically, the idea of this Nets offence was to have him pushing the pace and shooting options around him.
On this occasion, those corner shooters weren’t there for Simmons and the possession eventually ended in a turnover for the Nets. For Simmons, even if he made the right play it was an unfortunate reminder of the fact that his reputation precedes him. In this case, Simmons’ reluctance to get to the free throw line has been a flaw in his game for years now, especially since suffering a debilitating back injury.
But even in the minutes after that play, Simmons immediately showed he was willing to get the rim with two early looks. First, Simmons set a nice screen for Cam Thomas who lobbed it up for him before he later aggressively tried for the dunk on a backdoor cut. Simmons missed on both occasions but the fact he was putting himself in that position was promising.
His best moment of the first quarter came when he set another screen for Thomas, who got around OG Anunoby and linked back with Simmons for the touch pass to Cam Johnson. Simmons ended the game with just three field goal attempts and missed all of them. The Knicks only led 60-57 at halftime but a strong 35-24 third quarter paved the way for the 10-point win.
Jalen Brunson only scored 12 in the victory but all four of New York’s other starters hit 20 points. AUSSIE INGLES INVOLVED AS TIMBERWOLVES WIN OFF WILD BUZZER BEATER In other games around the league, the Minnesota Timberwolves snuck past the slumping Phoenix Suns 120-117 off a Julius Randle buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Australian Joe Ingles was tasked with getting the ball back in bounds after Minnesota called timeout, with the game locked up at 117-117 and 2.
7 seconds on the clock. In fact, it was Ingles’ only play of the game and he made it count. The Timberwolves were able to open up enough of a window to get Randle the ball and from there he beat Josh Okogie one-on-one to drain the game winner.
It capped off a 13-3un from Minnesota to close out the game. It was a particularly heartbreaking loss for the Suns given the Timberwolves only led Monday’s game for 15 seconds, with a Phoenix team minus Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal putting up quite the fight that looked like it was going to be just enough. Devin Booker stepped up in the duo’s absence to score 44 points, going 15-for-29 from the field and 6-for-13 beyond the arc, while Grayson Allen added 18 points off the bench.
Randle, meanwhile, had 35 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 and Donte DiVincenzo splashed five of 10 3-point attempts on his way to 15 bench points. The loss was Phoenix’s third on the trot and the fourth in its last five games while the Timberwolves have now won two straight after dropping three in a row. DYSON DANIELS’ HAWKS CRUMBLE AGAINST TRAIL BLAZERS Dyson Daniels made an electric start to Monday’s game against Portland but both he and the Atlanta Hawks faltered late as the Trail Blazers rallied to claim a 114-110 comeback win.
Daniels, who has been one of the league’s breakout stars early in the 2024-25 season, looked to be on his way to another big game after scoring 10 points in the first quarter — eight of which came in the space of one minute. But turnovers invited Portland back into the game and the Blazers didn’t look back, surging home on the back of 31 points from Shaedon Sharpe and 23 from Dalano Banton off the bench. Meanwhile, Trae Young led the scoring for the Hawks with 29 points but also had six turnovers while Daniels (six) and Jalen Johnson (seven) were also careless at times with the ball.
Young opened the scoring for the Hawks by splashing a 3-pointer before Daniels immediately made his presence felt on the defensive end, forcing a miss from Sharpe on a perfectly-timed closeout. The Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead within two minutes, prompting Portland coach Chauncey Billups to call one of the earliest timeouts of the season in a bid to quell the scoring. It didn’t have the desired effect though as the Hawks went further ahead, opening up a 11-2 buffer as a Daniels lob pass ended in a Clint Capela dunk to punctuate the early scoring run.
Having already made an impact both as a defender and passer, Daniels then scored eight points in the space of a minute. First he drained a 3-pointer before then playing through contact for a three-point play and later made the reverse layup, with Atlanta leading 21-9 at that point. The NBA’s steals leader then picked the pocket of Banton and dunked it home on the other end before an ambitious pass from Young ended with a soaring slam from Zacharie Rissacher.
That Rissacher dunk made it a 14-2 run and 25-9 lead for the Hawks before the Blazers answered back with an 8-0 charge of their own, although it was Atlanta still well on top 33-21 after the first quarter. Daniels led the Hawks with 10 points in the quarter and checked back into the game in the second with Atlanta still holding onto a comfortable 40-28 lead. That quickly changed though as turnovers proved the Hawks’ undoing in the second quarter, seeing the Trail Blazers inch closer and reduce the deficit to 42-37 at one point.
In the end, the Hawks took a 64-56 lead into the break despite turning the ball over 16 times, with Portland producing 16 second-chance points in the opening half. Atlanta didn’t really look threatened early in the third quarter either, still head by double digits with just over seven minutes left after Daniels found Capela again for a dunk to make it 76-66. But Portland then went on a stunning 14-0 run to take a 80-76 lead and built on that momentum to take a 94-81 buffer into the final quarter.
The Hawks were able to get back in touching distance and even led 108-105 with 90 seconds left, but a critical offensive rebound and subsequent go-ahead Sharpe 3-pointer later helped the Trail Blazers to a 114-110 comeback victory. JOKIC-LESS NUGGETS’ STRUGGLES CONTINUE Elsewhere, the Denver Nuggets continue to struggle without MVP Nikola Jokic after a 105-90 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Promising young guard Julian Strawther (19 points) actually led the scoring for the Nuggets, who suffered a noticeable drop-off in offensive efficiency with Dario Saric filling in for Jokic (personal reasons) in the starting line-up.
Aaron Gorodn (calf) was also unavailable, with Peyton Watson (seven points, five rebounds) getting the start. Jamal Murray and Christian Braun led the scoring for the Nuggets’ starting unit with just 13 points, which spoke to just how ineffective the offence was at times with Jokic out of the picture. Memphis was without a few key players too, with Ja Morant (hip) and Marcus Smart (illness) both unavailable as Desmond Bane made his first start for the Grizzlies and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds while adding seven assists.
The Grizzlies have now won four of their last six games, although their latest win may have been soured by an ankle injury to rookie big man Zach Edey. CAVALIERS CONTINUE HOT STREAK The Cleveland Cavaliers, playing without top scorer Donovan Mitchell, matched the second-best start to a season in NBA history, reaching 15-0 with a 128-114 victory over Charlotte. Mitchell took the night off to rest after averaging 24.
6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists for the Cavs during their perfect run.
The host Cavaliers, however, made up for his absence with a balanced attack as Darius Garland had 25 points and 12 assists, Ty Jerome added 24 points, Evan Mobley scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Jarrett Allen contributed 21 points and 15 rebounds. “We’ve always got some fight in us no matter what,” Garland said. “Everybody is ready to play.
It doesn’t matter, one through 15. “Everybody contributed. Everybody had a huge part in this win.
That’s just us. Just as a team effort.” Under new coach Kenny Atkinson, the Cavaliers had become the sixth team in NBA history to start 14-0.
Beating the Hornets made them only the fourth team in NBA history to open 15-0, matching the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets for the second-best start. They now trail only the record 24-0 start by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. The win streak is already the longest in the Cavaliers’ 55-year history, eclipsing three 13-win runs when LeBron James was with Cleveland.
Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball had 31 points and 12 assists in a losing cause. QUICK HITTERS FROM THE OTHER GAMES AROUND THE LEAGUE * At Oklahoma City, Dallas forward P.J.
Washington scored 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Mavericks over the host Thunder 121-119. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 36 points. He made a 3-pointer, stole the ball from Kyrie Irving late and hit a free throw but missed another and Luguentz Dort missed a 3-point shot for the win at the buzzer.
* Detroit’s Cade Cunningham had a triple double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to spark the Pistons over host Washington 124-104. Jaden Ivey had 28 points and Mailk Beasley 26 for Detroit. * At Indianapolis, Myles Turner scored a season-high 34 points to lead the Indiana Pacers over Miami 119-110.
Tyler Herro scored 28 to lead the Heat. * Turkish center Alperen Sengun had a triple double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists and Fred VanVleet scored 28 points to lead Houston’s 143-107 victory at Chicago..
