PHILADELPHIA – After all the hype and the hoopla, all the bitterness and all the hand-wringing, after a blockbuster trade that reshaped two franchises and reshuffled the NBA power grid, the Nets and Sixers finally faced off Thursday night and … it was as if nothing had changed at all.
Ben Simmons didn’t play for Brooklyn, after months of not playing for Philadelphia.
James Harden stumbled around aimlessly for the Sixers, mirroring his final lackluster weeks with the Nets.
Kevin Durant was brilliant; Kyrie Irving, divine; Joel Embiid, dominant. And Sixers fans?