Philadelphia 76ers vs Spurs: 3 players to watch including Bryn Forbes

Ben Simmons

There’s really one strong reason why Ben Simmons is on this list. The reason why, is because of what he did in the game against the New York Knicks and it’s better to see it first hand.

That’s right Simmons hit his first regular season 3-pointer! I recently wrote about it, so I won’t get into too much detail in this article. However, it will be interesting to see if Simmons will have the confidence to attempt another 3-pointer in a second consecutive game. If he does, then it shows he’s starting to have real confidence in his shot.

Simmons impact won’t come from his outside shooting in this matchup, but rather how he plays defensively and how he controls the tempo of the offense. Most likely Simmons be guarding DeRozan, as already stated in the previous slide. Simmons has the size and strength advantage against the veteran in this matchup. DeRozan isn’t a 3-point shooter, which should make Simmons’ job of guarding him even easier.

So far, Simmons hasn’t had his best season offensively, but the Spurs don’t have anyone that can guard him well. If he is aggressive and looking to score, there should be little that the Spurs can do to stop him if that ends up being the case in this game.