Anfernee Simons opens up about acclimating to new role

Anfernee Simons has spent the last three seasons entrenched as a starter in the Portland Trail Blazers' backcourt. He spent the past two years as their primary offensive option after they traded Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, he must readjust to coming off the bench.

He might not be a second-unit fixture, and caveats like injuries could lead to more opportunities to be out there for the opening tip. However, it appears the plan is for Payton Pritchard to start alongside Derrick White in the backcourt.

At the Boston Celtics' media day, Simons made clear he's fine with coming off the bench. And while he's eager to answer his new team's challenge to him on the defensive end, the nature of his game is tailor-made for a sixth-man role.

But after talking the talk, Sunday, in his first home game at TD Garden, it was time for the seven-year veteran to walk the walk.

"At first, I was kind of overthinking it," he told Hardwood Houdini after the Celtics' 138-107 preseason win vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. "But once I got out there, I felt more comfortable. Obviously, when you've been starting for, I don't know, how many years now? You feel like, you know, changing the kind of a team that you built over the past couple [of] years.

"But I think those early years, coming off the bench, really helped me, and trying to understand, you know, coming off the bench and the rhythm and the preparation coming off the bench, but it was good."

Anfernee Simons' preparation to come off the bench

Once Simons got comfortable, his dynamic abilities as a scorer, especially from beyond the arc, were on display. He knocked down side step and step-back threes, and he buried multiple attempts where he capitalized on Jaylen Brown driving-and-kicking the ball out to him. The six-foot-three guard also drilled a triple on a play where Hugo Gonzalez and Luka Garza shielded him for an open look at a three from 28 feet.

He finished with 21 points on 6/12 shooting. Each of those makes came from behind the arc, where he went 6/9.

Diving deeper into his preparation to come off the bench, Simons shared what that entailed early in his career with the Trail Blazers.

"Obviously, it's a different team, but early in my career, when I came off the bench, I just tried to understand the flow of the game; what we feel like I needed, or we needed when I came into the game," conveyed Simons. "At first, it was difficult. Obviously, coming in, trying to find a rhythm offensively, and you not having been playing this whole time.

"So, just feeling out how the game is being played. Get to get a snapshot before you go in of how the defense is playing certain players, and you might get the same coverage, so you kind of get a good idea of how the team's going to play. And then, I think, like early in my career, we used to -- me and my trainer, [we] used to do drills where we would come in late at night and I'll sit down for a second. Then, he would tell me to get up, come in, and shoot a three, and I have got to make it. Certain drills like that helped me to be able to come in and be pretty productive, pretty early in the game."

Getting that snapshot and gaining an understanding of how a defense might cover him is a potentially significant advantage for a scorer of Simons' capabilities. It's another reason why he could thrive in a role that requires sacrifice but is best for the Celtics.