Ben Simmons' One Word to Describe Game vs. 76ers’ Joel Embiid

Ben Simmons didn't have much to say after his battle against Joel Embiid.

It didn’t take long before Ben Simmons was switched onto Joel Embiid during Wednesday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets. Within the first couple of minutes of the game, the South Philly crowd roared as the two battled it out.

For the first time since the Sixers swapped Ben Simmons and James Harden, Embiid had the opportunity to go against his former teammate. In the first two outings between the Sixers and the Nets post-trade, injuries kept the two former teammates off the floor.

After Wednesday’s game, Ben Simmons had one word to describe his matchup against the big man.

“Fun,” said Simmons. “I only had to guard him in practice a couple of times, so.”

Simmons was never a man of many words during his time in Philadelphia. Considering he hasn’t really had much to say about Embiid since the star duo split last season, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the three-time All-Star didn’t have much to say on the battle.

As for Embiid, he explained that he took on the matchup against Simmons just like he takes on any other matchup. “If you look at the way I play, it doesn’t matter,” said Embiid. “Whether the matchup every single night, whoever is in front of me, it’s always the same aggression. It’s always the same aggression as far as trying to score the ball.”

The Sixers liked the idea of having Simmons get switched onto Embiid going into the matchup, as they are confident their big man can find success against anybody. But Embiid didn’t have his best night on the offensive end and admittedly struggled at times.

“I missed a lot of shots today,” Embiid admitted. “That hasn’t happened in a while. So, you know, I had a bad night, but I’m happy we got the win.”

The Wells Fargo Center Crowd didn’t get the big poster dunk they wished for, but the home team did come away with the win. While there was a fourth-quarter scare as the Nets tied the game up after trailing by 17 points, Embiid and the Sixers closed out the night with a 137-133 win.

Now, Ben Simmons and the Nets are two games back from the second seed, where the Sixers remain.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.