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Malika AndrewsESPN
PHILADELPHIA — Just months removed from a season plagued by a much-scrutinized missing jumper, 76ers guard Markelle Fultz checked one box Thursday on the path back to regaining the scoring touch he showed in college: He drained his first career 3.
It took less than two games for the 2017 No. 1 draft pick out of Washington to flash a glimpse of his previous accurate shooting touch from deep when he knocked down a 3-pointer for a 108-88 lead over the Bulls, bringing the Philly fans that were begging for his shot to fall all night out of their seats and the Sixers bench to rise to their feet.
From early on, every time the ball would touch Fultz’s hands, the wild Wells Fargo center crowd would bellow, “shoot!” at the second year guard, who struggled through a miserable rookie season that was abbreviated because of a right shoulder injury. Even when the ball would ricochet off the rim or clanked off the glass, fans would cheer to encourage Fultz.
Fultz did not seem phased by the crowd’s reaction to his first regular-season 3-pointer, which came at just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. He didn’t even crack a smile as he back pedaled up the court with the Sixers up by 20.
He finished with 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting, going 1-for-3 from beyond the arc as the Sixers defeated the Bulls 127-108.
When asked if seeing the ball swish through the net was a relief after the game, he hastily denied it before pausing, and rethinking. “Well, I mean, a little bit,” he conceded. “I worked hard this summer. I shot threes. I shot mid-range. I worked on my game, so I was comfortable shooting it. I believed in it and I thought it was going in, which it did. So it felt good.”
Even though he was at the center of a thick media scrum, Fultz seemed at ease. He said that he works on his shot extensively in warm-ups.
“I’m never afraid,” Fultz said of shooting. “I worked hard this summer. Tonight I didn’t make a lot of them, but I’m going to keep shooting. If I see an open shot, I’m going to go shoot it. That’s what I work for. Tonight it didn’t fall, but eventually it will. I am going to keep working. And if I see my teammates – you know I’ve got great teammates — I’m going to find them.”
One of those teammates was Ben Simmons.
It took Simmons just three quarters to notch his first triple double of the season. The second-year point guard — who posted 12 regular season triple-doubles in 2017-2018 — finished Thursday’s game with 13 points, 11 assists and 13 rebounds against the Bulls.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Simmons has now tied Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd and Norm Van Lier for the second-most triple-doubles through his first two N.B.A. seasons.
“He’s unlike any other player in the league with his ability to get to the rim,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said at the Bulls’ shootaround on Thursday morning. “He’s so dynamic with the ball at 6-foot-10, 6-11. He can finish with both hands. He’s got that ball on a string with a really tight handle. So, he’s a problem.”
The Bulls showed Simmons a variety of defensive looks, rotating Zach LaVine, Cameron Payne and Justin Holiday at different times. All three struggled. Simmons night also included some flash, as he spun the ball around his back before setting up Robert Covington for a three-pointer.
According to Simmons, he expects himself to put up triple-doubles regularly.
“I am supposed to be a floor general, find my guys, get to the rim, rebound the ball,” Simmons said after the game. “I am just comfortable out there.”