Ben Simmons joins elite company after Philadelphia’s Game 4 victory

The Philadelphia 76ers fought back to get a 106-102 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 4 and in the process, Ben Simmons joined some elite company.

The Philadelphia 76ers trailed for much of Game 4 against the Miami Heat, but things changed in the fourth quarter. Rookie Ben Simmons opened the final frame with the Sixers’ first four points, tying the game at 83. After that, Philadelphia never looked back, leading by as many as eight points in the fourth.

A lot of it was due to the play of Ben Simmons. Simmons had nine points, five rebounds (three offensive) and an assist in the fourth quarter. He seemingly took over when things got close. He went without a turnover after turning the ball over seven times in the first three quarters. To finish, Simmons had 17 points, 13 rebounds,10 assists and four steals.

Simmons joined some elite company with his performance, becoming one of five rookies to record a triple-double in NBA postseason history. He joins Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry Lucas and Tom Gola as the only players to record a triple-double during their rookie year in the playoffs. Johnson recorded five in his run with the Los Angeles Lakers back in the 1980 NBA Playoffs. If things go right for the Sixers, Simmons could do the same when it’s all said and done.

After leading this year’s rookie class in triple-doubles (12) during the regular season, Simmons registered the first triple-double of his career in the playoffs. With a 2-1 lead, he came through with a triple-double in Game 4 to lead the Sixers to a decisive road victory. If his status as Rookie of the Year frontrunner was ever in question, it shouldn’t be now.

Simmons steps up big

Simmons made a number of big plays down the stretch to seal the game for the Sixers. He nailed a fallaway fading jumper while looking away from the rim to put Philadelphia up with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter. To pretty much seal the game down two, he commanded a nice play that allowed big man Joel Embiid to spring  J.J. Redick open for a wide open shot in the corner.

Now, with Game 5 headed to Philadelphia, all eyes will be on Simmons to get the job done Tuesday night. The fourth quarter continues to be the Miami Heat’s Kryptonite in this series. They scored 19 points in Game 4 and 14 points in Game 3. They’ll need to bring everything they have for all four quarters or it could be gone fishing for them.

Miami is averaging 19.3 points per game in the fourth quarter in the series and shooting 39 percent from the floor as a team in their three losses. The Sixers, on the other hand, have continued to turn things up in the final frame, averaging 33.0 points per game in victories.

It took four games for Ben Simmons record a triple-double, but he’s averaging 19.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game in the series. He came close to a triple-double in Philadelphia’s loss (24 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) on Monday night. Then, in their Game 1 victory (17 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds) last Saturday.

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Even then, he’s recorded two double-doubles through four playoff games. If you’re beginning to hear murmurs of LeBron James, so am I. He still needs to work on his jump shot, but with shooters around him, it doesn’t matter.