The Daily Three-Pointer: Giannis Drops 50, Ben Simmons Trade Details Released

February 16th, 2022

 

Game of the Day:

The Boston Celtics absolutely destroyed the Philadelphia 76ers last night, 135-87. This became the 3rd straight game that the Celtics won on the road by at least 30 points. James Harden wasn’t playing for the 76ers, but Joel Embiid was, and he had 19 points in the loss. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had 28 and 29 points respectively, with Derrick White and Aaron Nesmith being key contributors off the bench. Boston has now won their last nine games, and sits at the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.

 

Question of the Day: Was Ben Simmons telling the truth?

Simmons addressed the media for the first time since joining the Brooklyn Nets, and some of what he said made me wonder if everything he said in Philadelphia was true. We saw a lot of things from the 76ers’ point of view, but maybe not as much from Simmons; we just saw a whiny, millionaire baby. When Simmons says he needed time to work on his mental health, and that was why he wasn’t going to play for the 76ers, many fans saw that as an excuse. However, Simmons hasn’t immediately started playing for the Nets, making me believe that he’s had a lot on his plate.

“It was more so, it was just piling up, a bunch of things that have gone on over the years to where I just knew I wasn’t myself and I needed to get back to that place of being myself and being happy as a person and taking care of my well-being. That was the major thing for me. It wasn’t about basketball. It wasn’t about the money [or] anything like that.”

Ben Simmons on why he requested a trade

This is completely understandable. The organization hasn’t exactly been kind to Ben (and I still think he needs a lifestyle change, as buying new cars and houses every other week won’t cut it), and David Aldridge provides a further explanation, saying that Simmons told him it was personal with the organization. However, Simmons was thrilled with how his Nets teammates received him, and said he could be back on the court for a March 10th matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on National TV. How amazing would it be if he started draining threes during that game?

 

Performance of the Night:

The Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks played each other last night, and for the Pacers, Buddy Hield had an amazing 36 points. Tyrese Haliburton stepped up as well, with 17 points, and the team as a whole scored 119. Unfortunately, when you’re playing against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday, that doesn’t really matter. Antetokounmpo, after missing the Valentine’s Day game against the Damian Lillard-less Portland Trail Blazers, dropped 50 points. It wasn’t just the 50 points that was amazing; it was that he went 17 of 21 from the field, which is the fourth fewest shot attempts in any 50 point game. Due to this outstanding performance, Antetokounmpo leads the entire NBA in scoring with 29.8 points per game, despite the fact that he is averaging the 54th most minutes per game of any NBA player.

 

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