The Philadelphia 76ers had themselves a tough time trying to figure out how to best attack the zone defense the Miami Heat threw at them in a loss on Wednesday night and it led to a 108-104 loss at home, their first of the season. On an otherwise lackluster night, there was one shining light and that was the continued defensive presence of Ben Simmons.
When the Sixers were finally able to knock down some shots and bust the Heat zone, it came down to getting the necessary stops defensively and Simmons stepped up to the challenge late.
There was a specific play in the fourth with the Sixers hard-charging and rallying and Simmons made a hell of a play on the inbounds pass and came up with a steal late. He stalked Heat star Jimmy Butler, made a play on the ball, and the loose ball ended up in Joel Embiid’s hands for a layup. That’s an All-Defensive Team type of play with the game on the line.
He did a terrific job against Butler holding him to two points on 1-for-3 shooting and two turnovers in their individual matchup and he held Kendrick Nunn, who had 26 points on the night, to three points when he defended him.
“I think that Ben is first in our league as a defensive player,” said coach Brett Brown. “I’m probably biased because I am his coach, but he has to be considered amongst the elite and maybe one of the better Defensive Player of the Year candidates, in my opinion.”
Jimmy Butler had 2 points, shot 1/3, and had 2 turnovers when defended by Ben Simmons
Kendrick Nunn had 3 points and shot 1/3 when defended by Simmons. He finished with 26 on the night.
Duncan Robinson had 2 points on 1/3 shooting when defended by Simmons #Sixers
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) December 19, 2019
“When he puts his mind to it and goes after boards, that’s when it really stands out to me,” Brown added. “I thought that defensively he was swarming with pride and we needed it. We just didn’t get that juice that we needed for the large majority of the game from others.”
The loss to the Heat exposed a few warts for the Sixers, especially in terms of long-range shooting and zone busting, but if Simmons can continue to show off this defensive improvement, then Philadelphia can continue to grind wins out. He still has a ways to go as a player–see jump shot–but his defense continues to be at an elite level. [lawrence-related id=21669,21655,21647]