1. No Simmons, No Problem

The biggest storyline that people have been following in the basketball world is what will happen with Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers. Things looked to be heading in the right direction when he reported to the team, but quickly soured.

Simmons was putting in zero effort in practices and wouldn’t take part in drills. Head coach Doc Rivers told him to leave practice and he was subsequently suspended.

Given the distraction he has caused, many people wanted to see how the team would respond. They had a great response in the season opener, blowing the doors off of the ZIon Williamson-less New Orleans Pelicans, 117-97.

Tyrese Maxey was an excellent replacement as the starting point guard, scoring 20 points with seven rebounds and five assists. He was one of four players to score at least 20 points along with Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Furkan Korkmaz. Korkmaz and Embiid tied for the team-high with 22 apiece.

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It was only one game, but this has to be quite a confidence boost for the players on the team knowing they can get the job done without Simmons. They will have a big test in their next game against the Brooklyn Nets and it will be interesting to see if they will have Simmons back in the mix for that game.