Embiid, Simmons Soak in Their Dirk Nowitzki Experience

Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons got their first Dirk Nowitzki experience and they both realized how cool of a moment it was.

The Process rolled into Dallas on Saturday and rolled out with a nail-biting victory after a missed free throw by Yogi Ferrell.

With it being a Saturday night game in Dallas, fans packed the arena to see their Mavs play a young Philadelphia team that had only one win under their belt entering the matchup. For some, it was the first time seeing some of the brightest, up-and-coming stars of the league in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

Embiid, who was drafted 3rd overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, has never touched the court in Dallas as each time Philly has visited American Airlines Center over the past three years, Embiid has been out with an injury.

Ben Simmons, who was the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, missed all of last year due to injury as now the 2017-18 NBA season will be his official rookie season.

Not only was it the first time the young pair had played in Dallas, but it was also the first time they had played on the same court against Dirk Nowitzki in a regular season game.

The 21 year old Simmons sounds like a little kid on the bench taking in the moment of playing against one of the greatest players of all-time.

For Embiid, it was a friendly approach as he has become friends with Nowitzki and referred to him as a “good friend” when asked about playing Nowitzki.

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“I wanted to use his move against him. I almost did, but the ball got stripped,” Embiid told ESPN when talking about facing Nowitzki.

Embiid referred to Dirk as a “legend” while also noting that he will be adjusting his drives to the basket against Nowitzki because of Dirk’s quick hands in stripping the ball.

Simmons finished the night with 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Embiid finished with 23 points and nine rebounds while shooting 3-7 from behind the arc.

Although the Mavericks lost by two in the affair, Nowitzki finished with a plus/minus of +24 while recording 11 points.

Next: 3 Reasons Not to Give Up On the Dallas Mavericks

The Sixers gained their second win of the season while Dallas moved to a 1-6 record heading into a Monday matchup with the Utah Jazz.