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Stefan Tonev
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Spirited 76ers down Nets, Simmons booed
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The Sixers won four of their last five games

Tobias Harris scored 24 points and a depleted Philadelphia 76ers team playing without Joel Embiid and James Harden beat Brooklyn Nets 115-106 to spoil Ben Simmons’ homecoming on Tuesday night.

Former Philly star Simmons shrugged off the boos that rose out of the home crowd each time the mercurial guard handled the ball as there was plenty of buzz from the time the doors opened in anticipation of his return.

“I thought it was going to be louder,” Simmons said.

Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and Kevin Durant had 20 for the Nets but it was a hard-fought triumph for the Sixers over their Eastern Conference rivals with Embiid out with a sprained left foot, Harden still out with a tendon strain in his right foot and starting guard Tyrese Maxey also out with a broken left foot.

“Everybody wants to see our team fail,” Durant said. “Nobody likes Ben. Nobody likes Ky. Nobody likes myself.”

With the win, the Sixers improved to 9-8. They have won four of their last five games.

“The toughness is what we needed,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Tonight is a game you saw it like in front of you. Whether they played well or not, our guys were going to compete. You saw that.”