It’s been over three years since the New York Knicks beat the Nets, but they’ll have an opportunity to pick up a win in Brooklyn on Saturday as part of the NBA’s Rivals Week. The Nets will be without Kevin Durant, who has a 21-3 record against the Knicks in his career. However, there’s another Nets starter that has yet to lose to the Knicks since he entered the league in 2017.
That player is Ben Simmons, who has a 15-0 record against New York. He went from playing with the Sixers, one of the Knicks’ division rivals, to being traded to the Nets, another division rival.
In New York and Brooklyn’s first matchup earlier this season, Simmons finished with six points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and one block in 24 minutes as the Nets cruised to a 112-85 win.
The former No. 1 pick has struggled this season for Brooklyn, but on Wednesday night, he finished with 10+ points for the first time since May 2021. Simmons posted 12 points (5-of-7), five rebounds, five assists, and one block in a 137-133 loss to the Sixers. He’s seemingly started to find his confidence again, which isn’t good news for the Knicks as they prepare to play at Barclays later this evening.
Fun Fact: Ben Simmons is 15-0 against the New York Knicks.
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 6, 2023
The best record of all-time against the Knicks. pic.twitter.com/GI7AeU4WFD
Nets’ Ben Simmons has a perfect 15-0 record against the Knicks in his career
After being traded to Brooklyn almost a year ago, Simmons sat out for the remainder of the year after not playing for Philadelphia in the first half of the season. It was thought that he would play in Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs against the Nets, but at that point, Brooklyn was already down 0-3 to Boston and Simmons reportedly had re-aggravated his back.
Before the Nets beat the Knicks in November, the last time Simmons had been part of a victory over New York was on Mar. 21, 2021. It was a game that went into overtime, where the Knicks narrowly lost by a score of 101-100. Julius Randle led the Knicks with 24 points, and given how he’s played this season, Randle will likely finish with more than that on Saturday.
New York picking up a win in Brooklyn would be huge and not only because it’d mark the first time that the Knicks have defeated Simmons. The Knicks are currently in play-in range and will hopefully be able to make it back to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. New York needs to stay afloat without an injured Mitchell Robinson, whose absence has been felt immensely.
So, will tonight be the night when Ben Simmons will finally get his first L from the Knicks?
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