The Brooklyn Nets faced off against the Philadelphia 76ers in the most anticipated matchup. With the teams facing each other for the first time since the deadline, the animosity was floating all around the arena. With the home fans going at Ben Simmons, the Nets were quick to shut down all the noise in the arena. While Kevin Durant hit back at the crowd for slandering his teammate.

With the James Harden- Ben Simmons, Sixers and Nets matchup became more of a must-see. Both sides would enter with their new looks. Moreover, the competition between the two MVP candidates, Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant is always thrilling. While Simmons was not in action tonight, the crowd did not forget him. However, that was until the Nets duo of Kyrie Irving and KD went on to dominate the home side.

After finishing a resounding victory, Durant called back at fans for going at Ben Simmons

Kevin Durant defends Ben Simmons

The matchup had all the hype with Simmons checking back into the city that gave him horrors. However, because of his back injury, he is yet to play for the Nets. But this did not stop the Philly crowd from piling it on Ben Simmons. While the crowd kept their noise initially, it all came down as the Nets ripped into the Sixers. Winning by 29 points on the road, Brooklyn made a statement. After the game, Durant gave his words to the fans.

He said: “It was very quiet towards the end. We ain’t hear no more Ben Simmons chants from the Sixers fans.”

The Harden-Embiid duo was firing on all cylinders before this game. However, they perished in the big moments. While Embiid did post 27 points and 12 rebounds, he couldn’t make anything for himself. He scored 15 points from free throws and shot just 5-17. Harden crumbled against his former team as well. Scoring just 11 points, he couldn’t make a shot to save his life as he shot only 17% for the night. Harris had an efficient game posting 16 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

On the other hand the Nets were thriving the entire night. Their trio of the Slim Reaper, KAI and Seth Curry torched up the Sixers. Curry added 24 points to go with 5 steals. Kevin Durant put up 25 points, 16 rebounds and 7 assists in the dominating win. Kyrie continued his impressive run with 22 points and 5 assists for the night. League veteran James Johnson provided valuable bench points with 16 for the game.

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With these two teams likely to meet come playoff time, the Nets have won the mental warfare this time around. Do you think the Sixers will bounce back from this defeat?