Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons makes triple-double history against Bulls
By Dan Parzych
It took less than three quarters of action against the Chicago Bulls for Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers to earn a triple-double and make NBA history.
After being one of the biggest snubs from the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, it appears Ben Simmons decided to take his frustration out on Wednesday night while the Philadelphia 76ers are hosting the Chicago Bulls. Without question, the former LSU star’s first season with the Sixers has been a magical one when considering Simmons turned 21 in July, but nobody expected him to put together the kind of performance that he did against the Bulls.
Entering Wednesday’s game, Philadelphia was considered one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference after winning seven of their previous nine games, although they certainly could have made that statistic even more impressive if it wasn’t for that Monday collapse against the Memphis Grizzlies. As for the game against the Bulls, well let’s just say it was a completely different story since Simmons and the Sixers used this game against a struggling team to their advantage.
In just one half of play, Simmons was able to record 11 points to go along with 13 rebounds, and eight assists, making it pretty obvious that it was only a matter of time before the triple-double would become official. And after quickly racking up two assists at the beginning of the third quarter, Simmons was able to make his mark in the record books.
Ben Simmons just recorded the 2nd fastest triple double in the NBA in the past 35 years. pic.twitter.com/HSqSubAWoD
— Did The Sixers Win? (@DidTheSixersWin) January 25, 2018
Ben Simmons - 11 pts, 13 reb, 10 ast - has clinched 5th triple-double of his rookie season, the most for a first-year player since 1979-80, when Magic Johnson had 7.
— brianseltzer (@brianseltzer) January 25, 2018
Simmons’ 5 triple-doubles tied with Alvan Adams (1975-1976) for 2nd-most all-time for rookies.
[h/t @bball_ref] pic.twitter.com/1Q1h5Oupug
Basketball fans in general understand just how special of a player Simmons is, but nobody expected the rookie to put together this type of game that will easily be considered the best of his career so far. Of course, Simmons being able to break his personal best of recording a triple-double in that quick of time will be quite the challenge, but anything seems possible with this Sixers star.
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As frustrating as it was to see Simmons spend all of last season on the sidelines, it was clearly worth the way for Philadelphia. Whenever Sixers fans need a reminder of whether it was worth tanking all those years, all they need to do is look back at the kind of night Simmons had against the Bulls to realize the wait paid off since this team is finally moving in the right direction to become actual contenders in the Eastern Conference.