Sixers: What should the closing lineup be?

Sixers’ closing lineup power forward: Ben Simmons

This is sure to elicit a response, and yes, I did watch the playoffs. Ben Simmons was an absolute dumpster fire in the second round, and yes, he deserves a lot of the blame for Philadelphia’s second round loss because he couldn’t close out games.

So, Christopher, why do you have Simmons in the closing lineup? Don’t you remember Hack-a-Ben? The pass? The zero fourth-quarter shot attempts? All that stuff?

Yes, as I said already, I did watch the playoffs. All of that is fresh in my mind — trust me. Even so, in pains me to take a page out of Doc Rivers’ book (and, going back further, Brett Brown’s book). You have to play him. At a certain point, you have to stick with what got you there. You have to ride your All-Stars. Trust your All-Stars, even if that trust is not always reciprocated.

Ben Simmons is arguably the best perimeter defender in basketball. That alone makes him a necessary part of any closing lineup. He can defend up and down the positional ladder, from Kyrie Irving (as pictured above) to Giannis Antetokounmpo. If you need stops on the perimeter, Simmons will give them to you.

With or without Thybulle on the floor, you need Simmons to anchor the perimeter defense. And trust me, Thybulle isn’t exactly filling Simmons’ void offensively. The Sixers need to get more creative with Ben’s role (if he’s even around), and Ben needs to embrace a more creative role, but he belongs on the floor late in games.

There’s a reason Simmons is listed at power forward instead of point guard, for however much that means in 2021. Simmons can guard point guards (and will, in a lot of matchups), but he’s much more offensively suited to a forward’s role — screening, rim running, and making connective-tissue passes from different spots on the floor. He shouldn’t be running the show in crunch time, but used wisely, he can still contribute in various ways.

Hack-a-Ben was an illuminating experience in the playoffs, and it does cast new concerns about Simmons’ future on the offensive side of the ball. He was unplayable down the stretch of games in the second round in large part because he was too scared to touch the ball and subsequently get fouled. That said, Hack-a-Ben has historically not worked. Simmons is normally a 60 percent free throw shooter, not a 30 percent free throw shooter. If he can restore regular season normalcy at the charity stripe, it’s easier to stomach his presence in the fourth quarter.