It is not always that a guy makes headlines for hitting his only 3-point attempt in the game, especially when it doesn’t tie the game or give his team the lead.
But when you’re notoriously reluctant to shoot Ben Simmons, you create SportsCenter for that.
Yes, it was only the fourth 3-point basket he made in his career. Two came last season, and this was the second this year. Yes, the Sixers lost in overtime to the Hawks.
If you include his one year at LSU, Ben Simmons is 5-34 out of three in your career.
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Just as it is also early to nullify the Lakers, there is no point analyzing too much the mid-season defeats of the Sixers or Jazz on Friday night.
Whether or not Simmons really incorporates the occasional trey into his game remains to be seen, but what is certain is that he is playing the best ball of his career. Her trainer, Doc Rivers, explained this in an article at Forbes earlier this month;
“You have to watch the game to see how often you miss it on both ends,” said Rivers after the game in reference to Simmons. “How many times did we get the ball off a rebound, did someone push it upwards, to get into the painting and lead to a three? We couldn’t get to the painting offensively tonight. That’s what Ben does. Ben’s skill leads us to make three. He doesn’t necessarily take them; he creates them. “
Rivers is right in that assessment. Simmons leads the league with 93 assists in three points, seven ahead of the nearest player (Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic). He is also in seventh place in the total points generated by his assists (427).
It has improved since that article. Simmons set a career record of 42 in a game Joel Embiid lost against Jazz on February 15. Including that night, he averaged 24.8 ppg on 60.5 percent pitches to go with 7.4 rebounds and 7.8 assists. Oh and Doncic? Simmons kept the MVP contender with 19 points from 6 out of 13 shots in the Sixers’ 111-97 victory on Thursday.
The Sixers are far from perfect, but when they are healthy, they are dangerous and almost unbeatable this season. With Embiid playing on another world level and Simmons continuing to show growth (remember when the Sixers had to switch Simmons because the two couldn’t play together?), They are well positioned for a race to the Eastern Conference finals and maybe more this season.