2. Ben Simmons took a leap
Ben Simmons was effective from end to end, regardless of how exhausted the Celtics were. For all the critiques people have given him for the one thing he can’t do, he’s gotten pretty damn good at everything else.
His conventional stat line of 24 points, eight rebounds and nine assists was awesome, but he was even more awesome to watch. Simmons got extra aggressive and it caused huge matchup problems for Boston.
Thanks to the new additions to the lineup (Al Horford and Josh Richardson) he was allowed to be more of a playmaker on the move and in the post rather than initiating from scratch. This worked wonders for the offense, getting shooters open more often than in years past.
Having a center who can shoot in the non-Joel Embiid minutes helped too, adding a level of spacing the Australian’s rarely had in his pro career. The offense was flowing even without the star center.
Like Embiid, Simmons elevated the offense the whole night. The two have different styles of being effective, but it’s worked for the past two years, worked again tonight, and will probably work for a long time.