Sixers observations from Game 4: No, it was not Ben Simmons’ fault
Look, what are we doing here? Of course it would be nice if Ben Simmons was a better shooter. He’s not. He shot 4-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter last night. The Wizards resorted to intentionally fouling around the 2:30 mark, and it resulted in a good-but-not-great point per possession. That is not why the Sixers lost.
The free throws are a problem, don’t get me wrong, but they are far from the biggest problem. Those getting caught up on Ben’s free throw shooting and ignoring the big-picture issues — Doc’s rotations, the team’s defense, the gaping void left by Embiid, Tobias’ incompetence down the stretch — are focusing on Theon Greyjoy’s fingernail when bigger things are missing.
Philadelphia does not need to panic over Ben’s troublesome free throw shooting. His percentage will regress to the mean and he will, in all likelihood, jump back to the 60 percent range before the end of the postseason. Hack-a-Ben has never been smart in the past — it has failed Scott Brooks before — and it wasn’t particularly impactful in Game 4. Again, the Sixers had issues well beyond a 50-percent stretch at the charity stripe.
Simmons’ foul trouble and how he was thus deployed — whether you blame him, the refs, Doc Rivers, or some combination of the three — was undoubtedly more detrimental to the Sixers’ efforts than Hack-a-Ben. He only played 25 minutes, which can’t happen when Embiid only plays 11.
In the end, everyone just needs to take a deep breath and relax.