In typical Philadelphia sports fashion, 76ers guard Ben Simmons won the smack-talk battle with Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic on Saturday afternoon, but ultimately lost the war. Nobody writes checks they can't cash quite like Philly, am I right?
Half way through the third quarter at the Wells Fargo Center, with the Sixers down big, Simmons stepped to the free throw line and threw up a brick, an all-too familiar occurrence for the star guard (58-percent on the year from the free throw stripe). Nurkic, the 6-foot-11 "Bosnian Beast," took it upon himself to remind Simmons he just bricked it, shouting "hellll no." Simmons wasn't having it, clapping back at Nurkic underneath the hoop:
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1099394890289635329
Funny stuff from Simmons. Just a few problems, the first being Nurkic finished the game with 24 points, 10 boards and four assists, which doesn't exactly scream "ass." The second being the final score, which read Portland 130, Philadelphia 115. Tough look for Ben, though he did do his part, scoring 29 points, dishing 10 assists and grabbing seven rebounds. But an L is an L.
Simmons also made sure not to go down without a fight:
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1099401279422509056
Same old, tired routine from Enes Kanter. Can't really blame Simmons for this one. Unfortunately, this is the last time these two teams will meet this year, unless they play each other in the NBA Finals…. LOL, just kidding.
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