The Philadelphia 76ers received terrible news on August 8 when they found out that All-Star Ben Simmons would have to undergo surgery on his left knee to repair a loose body in the knee. It was at that point, any chance the Sixers had at going deep into the playoffs went out the window.
It also did not help that they ended up having to face the Boston Celtics in Round 1 of the playoffs. Simmons had success defending Jayson Tatum in the regular season holding him to 5-for-18 shooting in their matchups per NBA Stats.
Without Simmons, the Sixers have been relying on Josh Richardson and Matisse Thybulle against Tatum, and the Boston All-Star is having a field day in this series. He is averaging 32.5 points and is shooting 53.7% from the field as he has been toying with the Sixers through two games.
“It’s no secret that he is our best perimeter defender along with J-Rich,” explained coach Brett Brown. “I think that he was a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate. You look at deflections, steals, the versatility to guard 1 through 5, pick whatever you want. His ability to defensive rebound, that stands out. When you go and you guard these dynamic wing players, then you feel that absence, that’s defense.”
That’s just the defensive standpoint on things. What about offense? The Sixers have a couple of athletes on the wings in Richardson and Tobias Harris and the Sixers have not been able to run as much as they would like to with young Shake Milton handling things on offense. Instead, they’re focusing on Joel Embiid so much and they’re not running as much as they used to.
“There’s a pace aspect that we have to find better than we’re currently finding on the blending of go post Jo, go get Jo the ball, could be an elbow, could be a roll, could be a post, but clearly that’s our crown jewel, that’s where we make our money,” Brown added. “In the meantime, our transition focus has been minimized because we’re trying to do the right thing and go where the game tells us to go in Joel Embiid. I think the pace aspect stands out when you don’t have him.”
On top of that, there is an emotion that goes into it. Simmons suffered a serious back injury on February 22 where he was vomiting in pain and he worked so hard to get to this point. Now, it all goes out the window as a little tweak in the knee holds him out.
“I think about it all the time just from a human standpoint, the effort that he put in to try and get back and the legitimate injury that he had and the pieces that I have in place, to come here to Orlando and actually play NBA basketball again, none of us really understand that three-month thing that he went through to get here,” the coach finished with. “For him now not to be here, you feel it from a human standpoint.”
The Celtics are probably the worst matchup for Philadelphia sans Simmons as they don’t have anybody to defend their offensive talent. Still, there has to be a way to get things going again for them on the floor in order to get back in the series as Game 3 is Friday inside that bubble. [lawrence-related id=37032,37028,37025]