With 7:06 remaining in Tuesday’s Boston Celtics loss, Anfernee Simons found Payton Pritchard for an open three to extend Boston’s lead to eight. Simons’ fifth assist of the night also accounted for the 13th point he was responsible for in the frame.
The 26-year-old was a problem for Philly in the fourth. This time, he didn’t just get going off catch-and-shoot opportunities. He was actually creating offense for himself. Simons’ pair of stepback threes took the air out of the Sixers’ home crowd, before he later drove the cup for a lefty floater.
Less than a minute after Simons found Pritchard on the perimeter, he headed to the bench with the Celtics still up eight points.
The 76ers then ripped off a quick 9-0 run in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Just like that, the Cs were where they’d been for most of the night, and where they’d finish it -- behind.
For all of the talk about Simons’ fit in Boston, and wanting him to get back to the level he’d played at as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, Tuesday was a step in the right direction. As highlighted above, he took over the game by getting back into his old bag, rather than being a spectator, which makes it more strange that Joe Mazzulla literally turned him into one midway through the quarter.
Rest probably fueled Mazzulla's decision to sit Simons
In fairness, this felt like a rest substitution, rather than a “we’d rather not have you in the game type of move.” Mazzulla’s decision to put Simons back into the game sporadically through the final two minutes speaks to that even more.
“I think he’s fine. He’s getting better and had some good defensive possessions,” Mazzulla told reporters after the loss, via CLNS Media. “He was good tonight, and we went with him at the end.”
Even if the substitution was to get Simons some rest, it clearly affected all the momentum Boston had built up to that point. They had three empty possessions back-to-back-to-back once he headed to the pine.
On a night where offense was so hit-or-miss, it would’ve made more sense to leave him in and risk the fatigue. This is especially true when considering that the Celtics haven’t utilized Simons in crunch time so far, and that he isn’t really built for it with his defensive shortcomings.
Yes, defense is important throughout games and during the minutes that Simons spent on the bench. It’s just not “get a stop or lose” important.
Regardless, this is all a bunch of hindsight, Monday morning quarterback stuff from me. At the end of the day, the Celtics still had a possession with the chance to tie or win the game, and just couldn’t get it done.