Andrew Unterberger | The700Level,NBC Sports Philadelphia
"But even if last night's game was JJ Redick's Process Bar Mitzvah, I still wanna talk about Ben Simmons today. He had a rough-ish shooting night from the field, only hitting 5-13, but still racked up his second triple-double of the season, with 14 points, 11 boards and 11 assists, including dimes on two of those final three Redick triples. He even hit all four of his free throws, bringing his average for the year at the charity stripe all the way up to... well, 59 percent still isn't great, but it's better than 55 percent anyway.
Yet with all this, what really impressed me with Simmons last night was his late-game defense, which absolutely bailed the Sixers out late in this one. He made the Sixers' two biggest plays on the other side of the ball, first snuffing out a Darren Collison drive in transition that should've been an easy layup after Joel Embiid blew a wide-open dunk at the other end. Then standing tall against a Victor Oladipo's triple - in which Oladipo (who torched the Sixers for 31) tried desperately to draw a foul on Simmons after pump-faking, but which Simmons side-stepped while still contesting. He also ended with two steals and a career-high three blocks, making for maybe his most complete all-around performance on the season. There aren't a lot of things this guy can't do. (Besides, y'know, shoot with the correct hand.)"
