Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons, the Point Center

Brett Brown has experimented in the absence of Joel Embiid, and one such experiment has featured the Philadelphia 76ers running Ben Simmons at center.

Ben Simmons is listed as point guard on the Philadelphia 76ers‘ lineup card for each game, yet this position only applies in the fact that Simmons brings the ball up the court. On the defensive side of the ball, Simmons guards opposing forwards due to his 6-foot-10, 230-pound frame. This has yielded the term point forward when describing Simmons, a title most frequently used with LeBron James.

However, on Monday afternoon against the Brooklyn Nets, Brown used Simmons as a point center. Simmons guarded the Nets’ centers, while playing down on the block on offense, for a 10-minute stretch in the third and fourth quarters. It is not unusual for Simmons to be featured in the post at points throughout the game, but this was the first substantial period of time in which he was the big man on the court for the Sixers.

During this stretch of time, Simmons scored 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field. He also added four rebounds, two assists and the team was +13, meaning they outscored the Nets by 13 points. Simmons absolutely dominated. Now, it is unclear if Brown will continue using this smaller lineup, or if Simmons could maintain this type of play against teams with stronger centers. It is clear though, that this smaller lineup surrounded Simmons with more shooters and freed up the lane for him to drive.

The Sixers have always played differently when Embiid is on the bench, mainly in pace of play, but the spacing created without Embiid or Horford in the lane is impossible to not notice. A small ball lineup could be something Brown holds in this team’s back pocket should they match up with a team like the Nets or Miami Heat in this year’s playoffs.