Tobias Harris leads the Sixers in an NBA victory over the Nets

Harris was second on offense to De’Anthony Melton with 22 points and Paul Reed with 19 and 10 rebounds off the bench. Another who stood out for the Sixers was Shake Milton and Georges Niang with 16 goals each.

“I just needed to get into a rhythm and once I could find that flow, I just stood my ground and made the right plays,” Harris said. “It was a big win for us.”

Australian Ben Simmons, from Brooklyn, was a big underdog in the thrilling NBA comeback of his former Sixers, who lacked three big stars.

The pre-game focus was on former Sixer Simmons playing his first game in Philadelphia since being traded to the Nets in February, but a Philadelphia team was missing injured James Harden, Cameroonian Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

The Sixers were without Embiid, sidelined with a strained left foot, plus point guard Harden, who came from the Sixers in the deal that sent Simmons to Brooklyn and was out today with a sprained right foot and Maxey out with one foot broken left.

Meanwhile, the Nets have once again leaned on star Kevin Durant, Simmons and Kyrie Irving, the latter in his first game on the road after an eight-game suspension for posting a link to a movie on social media that contains content deemed anti-Semitic.

Durant had 20 points, Irving 23 and Simmons 11 with 11 assists.

Simmons is averaging 7.9 points; 6.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game for the Nets, who entered the game 8-9.

The Aussie was selected first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016 NBA draft and became the 2017 NBA “Rookie of the Year”.

Simmons played four seasons for the Sixers before missing the start of last season with mental health issues after requesting a trade.

The Aussie was traded to Brooklyn last February and missed the rest of last season, including a March game in Philadelphia, with a herniated disc in his back.

The Sixers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in three of four seasons under Simmons, and eliminated by Boston in the first round of the other postseason.

In just the second of four games scheduled for the day in the NBA, the Sacramento Kings defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 113-109, thanks to 32 points by De’Aaron Fox.

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