Ben Simmons appeared to troll his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, on Instagram, Sunday after their 112-88 Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics. In a post on his Instagram Story, he shared a captionless photo of himself watching the game on TV.
Simmons played for the 76ers from 2016–2022 after the organization drafted him first overall. After several unsuccessful playoff runs, the team traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in 2022, receiving James Harden in exchange. Simmons played 42 games for the Nets this season and averaged 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.3 steals in 26.3 minutes per game. Harden scored just 9 points on 3-11 shooting in Game 7. Joel Embiid, who just won the Most Valuable Player award, only recorded 15 points on 5-18 attempts.
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James Harden & Joel Embiid During Their Game 7 Loss
As for Sunday's game, the Celtics dominated the 76ers from halftime on, outscoring them 33-10 in the third quarter. The performance was led by Jayson Tatum, who set a new NBA record for scoring the most points in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history. He finished with 51 points on 17-28 shooting from the field. He tacked on another 5 assists and 13 rebounds as well.
“It felt great,” Tatum told ESPN. “This was a back and forth series. Obviously I didn’t play well the first half of the last game and I was just happy to get an opportunity to bounce back. To come back home, game seven on Mother’s Day … I had to put on a special performance for her.”
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Ben Simmons' Reaction
The Celtics will now take on the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals while the Lakers will be playing the Nuggets in the West. Game 1 for the Celtics will tip off on Wednesday night. Both series are rematches of the 2020 playoffs, which were held in the NBA Bubble.
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