Without their franchise big man, the Philadelphia 76ers have been led by their star point guard this past week for better or worse.
The absence of Joel Embiid has been felt as the Philadelphia 76ers has gone 1-2 this past week without their All-Star center. Still, there’s been some bright spots, most of which have been given by Ben Simmons. Despite disappearing on offense in the fourth quarter of some of these games, he’s still has earned the “Player of the Week” award.
The defeat against the Dallas Mavericks was arguably Simmons worst game of the week. He finished with 11 points, five rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and five fouls, while making 5-11 field goal attempts and his one free throw shot.
Simmons had his best game of the week in the close loss against the Indiana Pacers. He had 24 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, one steal, two turnovers and three fouls, while converting 10-17 from the floor and all four of his foul shots. Simmons lead all scorers in this contest.
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In the Sixers victory against the Brooklyn Nets, Simmons collected another double-double. He ended the game with 20 points, six rebounds, 11 assists, one steal, one block, four turnovers and five fouls, while shooting 9-13 from the field and 2-7 on free throws. Simmons’ four turnovers was the highest total he had this week.
Honorable Mention
Tobias Harris was so close to winning “Player of the Week”, but Simmons as able to pull away with the award due to his defense and improved offensive production. Still, lets’ not under value the week that Harris had. He averaged 23.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.0 turnover and 1.0 foul per game. That type of production is worthy of an honorable mention and let’s not forget that he was key in the victory against the Nets.
Simmons ended the week averaging 18.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.3 blocks, 2.0 turnovers and 4.3 fouls. The Philadelphia 76ers will go only as far as Simmons can take them without Embiid in the lineup. Hopefully, as Simmons shows more growth which should help the Sixers win more games moving forward.