'Boo him until lights go off': Ben's classy act as Philly fans silenced ...

Ben Simmons made two trips to Philadelphia last season and was booed on both occasions.

Even more time has passed since the Australian was traded to Brooklyn but 76ers fans clearly won’t be forgetting about Simmons anytime soon, once again loudly booing every time the three-time All-Star touched the ball at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.

“They’re going to boo him until the lights go off,” Marc Jackson said on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

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It was the only real noise the 76ers fans were making though, quickly silenced by a runaway Nets team that made easy work of their Eastern Conference rivals on the way to a 136-121 win.

It ended a nine-game losing skid for Brooklyn against Philadelphia and marked Simmons’ first victory against his former team since being traded.

Despite the less than welcoming reception from the older members of the Philadelphia fanbase, a classy Simmons was spotted pre-game signing autographs for young Sixers supporters.

The Nets made a concerted effort to get the ball in Simmons’ hands early on Sunday in a bid to get their high-tempo transition offence going and at times it was the Australian himself initiating it, active on the boards and then pushing the pace for fast-break points.

Even when Simmons was off the floor, Brooklyn was able to keep the buckets falling as young guard Cam Thomas put on a show in a 40-point performance.

It is no coincidence that Brooklyn’s two highest assist totals of the season have come in its past two games with Simmons on the floor, recording 41 against Utah and 35 against Philadelphia.

Overall, five Nets players finished on double figures as Brooklyn made it three wins from its past four games.

The 76ers, on the other hand, have now dropped five of their last six as they face the reality of being without reigning MVP Joel Embiid for an extended period.

Tyrese Maxey, who exploded for 51 points in Philadelphia’s win over Utah, scored 23 points but it was far from enough to see the Sixers even threaten the Nets.

Simmons was again on a minutes restriction on Sunday, with Nets coach Jacque Vaughn telling reporters pre-game that there was no timetable on when that may be lifted.

Ben Simmons had some impressive moments. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP

“There will be a progression of minutes added on to it before it’s completely lifted,” Vaughn said.

“That’s just going to be how he responds from game to game.”

Simmons only played 14 minutes on Sunday largely due to the fact it was a blowout win, finishing with nine rebounds, five assists, a turnover and four personal fouls.

Simmons did not attempt a single shot in the game.

The Australian was ruled out of Brooklyn’s last game against Phoenix after suffering swelling in his knee after falling awkwardly following a blocked shot.

“That is not at all something that’s going to linger,” Vaughn added.

“It’s something that just acutely happened in the game. With a couple days of treatment, it responded. Hopefully, we continue down a path of playing.”

The Nets jumped out to an early 11-8 lead on Sunday, with Nic Claxton active on the glass after recording all five of Brooklyn’s defensive rebounds in the first four minutes.

At that point neither team was shooting very well from deep, with the Sixers going 0-for-4 from downtown while the Nets had only made one of six 3-point attempts.

Part of that came back to the fact Simmons started the game off the bench, as he had done in his comeback against the Utah Jazz, meaning the Nets weren’t the lethal transition offence they had been with the Australian on the floor.

That quickly changed when Simmons entered the game to a chorus of boos, swiftly silencing the Philadelphia crowd as he pushed the ball in transition off a 76ers miss to find Royce O’Neal for the open 3-pointer.

Simmons then made it two assists from just as many possessions as he linked with Thomas for another transition 3-pointer and suddenly the Nets were in total control.

A 8-0 run with Simmons on the floor saw Brooklyn extend its lead to 20-8, although Philadelphia was able to respond with a 6-0 scoring surge of its own.

It coincided with the transition opportunities drying up for the Nets as the Sixers made their shots.

That prompted the Nets to call a timeout and coach Vaughn got the desired impact as Brooklyn went on another 8-0 run which saw Simmons heavily involved, first finding Lonnie Walker IV for an emphatic dunk off a perfectly timed lob before a pass to Mikal Bridges saw the visitors make their sixth 3-pointer of the game.

Ben Simmons made an immediate impact. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

Philadelphia, on the other hand, remained 0-for-5 from deep at that point with the Nets leading 32-18 as Simmons checked back out of the game.

There was just over 90 seconds left in the opening quarter when Simmons headed to the bench with four assists and just as many rebounds from five minutes.

The Nets ended the first quarter on top 38-22 and while the offence was obviously impressive just as pleasing was the four points they restricted Maxey to in the opening period.

Maxey was coming off a 51-point effort in a 127-124 win over the Jazz and Brooklyn constantly blitzed the young guard with two defenders to force Philadelphia’s other players to produce and outside of Kelly Oubre Jr. (eight points) it was pretty inconsistent early.

By the time Simmons checked back in for the second quarter the Nets had already almost doubled the Sixers’ score, leading 51-28.

Simmons came in for Claxton, who had seven points, 13 rebounds and two blocks — including one ferocious effort on Oubre Jr. — in a monster opening to Sunday’s game.

While Simmons’ pass-first mentality forces his teammates to always be ready to receive the ball, it can also be to his — and the team’s — detriment as it was late in the second quarter.

That was the case when Simmons was picked off by Maxey as he tried to fit the ball through a crowded passing lane instead of driving to the lane first, with the Sixers anticipating the selfless Australian would look for the pass first.

The Nets were able to open up a 25-point lead at one point but the 76ers made two late 3-pointers to reduce the deficit and head into halftime trailing 67-51.

Philadelphia only shot 37.5 per cent from the field in the opening half while Brooklyn made 12 of its 26 3-point attempts, which spoke volumes to just how far apart the two teams were in the first two quarters.

Maxey had 12 points in the second and remained Philadelphia’s biggest scoring threat for the remainder of the game, but with limited production elsewhere and the Nets consistently sinking shots the Sixers were little hope of staging a comeback.

Philadelphia pulled its starters early in the fourth and Brooklyn largely did the same, meaning it didn’t need to push Simmons in his return as he remained on the bench.

Some of Philadelphia’s rarely-used rotation players made a splash late, with Terquavion Smith scoring 17 points off the bench, but Brooklyn had enough of a buffer to hold on.