Ben Simmons Has a Career Night vs. Cavaliers

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- After Thursday night's ugly loss against the Washington Wizards, the Philadelphia 76ers had to come back on Saturday with a statement win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Considering the Sixers have allowed lesser opponents to hang around on the scoreboard more often than not, a comfortable win was desired by the Sixers and their fans.

Fortunately, the Cleveland Cavaliers are what you would call a dumpster fire right now. Not only did they have a disappointing record of 5-16 heading into Saturday's game, but they have also had their fair share of issues within the locker room as well.

It felt like the Sixers were going to have a prime opportunity to gain their confidence back with a dominant win over a bad Cleveland team, but the Sixers had some issues of their own.

With two key starters in Joel Embiid and Josh Richardson out of the lineup, the Sixers had to roll with Furkan Korkmaz and Mike Scott as a replacement. Even while short-handed, the Sixers were still expected to beat the Cavs. However, one of their stars had to step up and take over the game to ensure a blowout was on the way.

Sixers' point guard Ben Simmons was up to the task on Saturday night. While Simmons' defensive effort throughout the year has been outstanding, many have questioned his ability to shine on the offensive side of the ball in the scoring column.

Without Embiid on the floor, the offense would run through Simmons on Saturday. While the Sixers played well as a whole, it was clear that Simmons was the most valuable player on the floor during his 26-minute shift.

Simmons ended up notching his career-high of 34 points, registering as a plus-32 while on the court. He almost couldn't miss as he knocked down 12 of his 14 attempted shots from the field. Not only did Simmons shine where he's comfortable, but he also stepped out of the box and drained his second career three-pointer as well.

It's casual.@BenSimmons25 | #PhilaUnite pic.twitter.com/IHhVmxumaK
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 8, 2019

"I was locked in every time I was on the floor, regardless of how many minutes I played," Simmons said, following the victory. "That's the level we need to play at every night." It was a solid bounce-back game for Simmons and the Sixers, but they know that Saturday's game against the Cavs was just a warmup for Sunday's main event against the Raptors.

It's unclear if Philly will have Joel Embiid back in the lineup or not, but regardless of who is on the floor for the Sixers, they have proven to be competitive with Simmons at the helm. The hope for the 76ers is that Simmons' career night can boost his confidence moving forward because Simmons' newfound confidence in his skillset can be a game-changer.