The Brooklyn Nets had a big win last night against the Chicago Bulls, 120-112. The Nets are now at .500 with a 3-3 record and have been showing legitimate competitiveness to start the season.

Brooklyn, a team expected to be near the bottom of the standings, took another game they weren’t supposed to win. The star of the show was Cam Thomas, who scored 32 points on 11-of-23 shooting. However, Ben Simmons surprised a lot of people last night with his performance.

Simmons finished with eight points, eight rebounds, 11 assists and two blocks. The former NBA All-Star had a resurgence last night, as he was everywhere for Brooklyn. Although the score was not necessarily prominent, it was with 4 of 5 shots, showing efficient basketball.

There was a lot of talk about where Simmons would fit into this group. It was clear that Thomas, Dennis Schroder, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cameron Johnson and Nic Claxton had established themselves as starters, but Simmons has filled in nicely as Claxton remains on a minutes restriction and comes off the bench.

The Australian forward is now averaging 6.2 points, 6.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds entering the 2024-25 season. Once a powerful force in the league, Simmons had been dealing with health issues and turmoil with his last team, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Since being traded to the Nets in 2022, he has still dealt with injuries, but has been a solid complementary piece in the system. New coach Jordi Fernández seems to be getting more out of him in other ways besides scoring as the season gets underway.

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