By Jerry Wein
If ever there was a game that proved the Sixers need to make a trade and get rid of crybaby Ben Simmons, last night was it.
They just don’t have enough active bodies to compete with the up-and-coming teams in the NBA.
Simmons, who is not yet playing, probably wouldn’t have made a diff in the Garden last night.
But Dame Lillard or Bradley Beal might have!
Kemba Walker scored 19 points and the Knicks snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Sixers with a 112-99 victory.
Evan Fournier added 18 points in the Knicks’ first victory over Philly since April 12, 2017, the last game of the 2016-17 season. Julius Randle had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Joel Embiid didn’t have a field goal in the first half of his first career loss to the Knicks, who outscored the Sixers 39-16 in the second quarter and improved to 3-1.
Tobias Harris scored 23 points for the 76ers. Embiid finished with 14 points and six rebounds, shooting just 2 for 7. He had been 12-0 in games he played against New York.
“I mean, it’s the NBA season. It happens,” said Embiid, who was 0 for 5 in the first half.
A couple “Where’s Ben Simmons? Where’s Ben Simmons?” chants broke out at Madison Square Garden and the Sixers certainly missed their All-Star guard’s defense on the perimeter against a Knicks team that upgraded offensively with the additions of Walker and Fournier.
“Clearly they’re a better offensive team because they have more shot makers. They have more playmakers,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “That’s one thing about Kemba and Fournier. They’re not just scorers. They’re playmakers and the more playmakers you can add to a team, the better. We didn’t have any playmakers tonight.”
The Sixers led 26-23 after one before the Knicks sped into the lead behind some energetic plays from their second unit to open a 47-36 lead.
Embiid then hit a pair of free throws before Walker, scoreless at that point, made a 3-pointer with 4:06 remaining, to get himself started and start the Knicks on a 15-4 run to end the half. He had another 3 and two more baskets before the Knicks took a 62-42 lead to the break.
“It was fun. Hopefully I can — we can have — more moments like that,” Walker said. “It was just such a great team win. Everybody contributed in many different ways and that’s how New York basketball is.”
Walker hadn’t scored more than 11 points in any game and had sat down the stretch of the Knicks’ two close ones while Derrick Rose played. He scored nine more in the third on three 3-pointers and the Knicks led by as much as 27.
