The Philadelphia 76ers had to rely upon the all around game of Ben Simmons to lead them to a winning record this past week.
As the holidays are among us, it’s undeniable that while some take this time to rest, one of the Philadelphia 76ers player didn’t. Ben Simmons‘ unrelentless motor influenced multiple areas of the floor this past week, which earned him the player of the week honor.
In the blowout win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Simmons was absolutely dominant while leading the Sixers in both rebounds and assists. He finished the game with 22 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists, one steal and four personal fouls. He also went 9-15 on field goal attempts and 4-5 from the foul line. The 14 dimes are a season high for the 6-foot-10 playmaker.
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The embarrassing loss to the San Antonio Spurs, was easily Simmons’ worst performance of the week. He had 16 points, six rebounds, six assists, three turnovers and two fouls, while shooting 7-10 from the floor and made both of his free throw shots. This game was the only one in which Simmons failed to record at least a double-double this past week.
Simmons got his second triple-double of the week in the victory against the New York Knicks. He finished the contest with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, one steal, one block and three turnovers, while going 50 percent from the field and 75 percent from the charity stripe. This was Simmons second triple-double of the month thus far and his fifth of the season.
Against a short handed Toronto Raptors, Simmons put on a show. In the win, he had 26 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, one block, one turnover and two fouls, while missing only two of his 13 field goal attempts and he failed to convert only two of his six free throw attempts. His 26 points is a season high, while his 12 rebounds and eight points were team highs for the game.
Honorable mention
While most of the Sixers players had better overall weeks, this honorable mention goes to Jonah Bolden. He only played in three of the four games for the Sixers this past week, but his defense came up big for the club against the Raptors.
He had four points, nine rebounds and four blocks in 25 minutes in the blowout victory. He got big minutes in part do to Wilson chandler missing the game with injury, but the rookie big man stepped up big against the a conference/division rival. For the week he averaged, 2.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 2.0 blocks, 1.0 turnover, and 1.3 fouls.
Simmons’ ability to impact multiple areas of the floor greatly benefited the Philadelphia 76ers. The fact that he scored 20-plus points twice within a four game span shows he’s becoming more aggressive as a scorer as well. His stat line for the week is impressive. He averaged 19.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 9.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.5 blocks, 1.8 turnovers and 2.0 fouls.