Simmons’ back tightness doesn’t much worry Brown
PHILADELPHIA >> Before the 76ers’ 116-115 victory Saturday over the Orlando Magic, Ben Simmons was less than ready to allow his new, hybrid guard-forward position to define his career.
Less than eight minutes into the Sixers’ second consecutive victory, he had other concerns.
With the Sixers citing “back tightness,” Simmons left the game after playing 7:41. Immediately, the Sixers announced that he would not return.
Simmons was not in the locker room after the game. The Sixers were not ready to report whether or not he’d had an MRI, but did say Simmons would be treated again Sunday and Monday, and that they would provide an update before they left for a Tuesday game in Detroit.
Brett Brown said he was alerted before the game that Simmons had a back issue that could become a factor. Afterward, the Sixers’ coach expressed a minimum of concern.
“I really haven’t been told anything,” Brown said. “I don’t believe it’s serious. I would say it sways more on precautionary. But that’s just giving my opinion without any information from my doctors. I thought he played OK. It was clear that something was going on.”
Simmons made his third consecutive start at the point, then played for a very short time up front before leaving. He shot 2-for-3 with four points.
Earlier, he was reluctant to embrace the idea that he is in any way a forward.
“I’m a point guard,” he said. “I start at point guard. If I was 5-2, you’d be saying I am a point guard. I pass the ball as well as anybody in the NBA. I just rebound the ball. I am just bigger point guard, that’s all.”
It was only after being reminded that he played at the four spot two nights earlier against Orlando that Simmons warmed to the discussion.
“I moved from point guard to power forward,” he said.
And is he accepting that? “Yeah, definitely,” he said. “It’s the same as a point guard going to the shooting guard position. For me, I fit in at a power-forward position. Wherever you need me on the floor, that’s where I am going to be.”
The Sixers will be off Sunday. Brown’s early indication was that J.J. Redick would return to the starting lineup Tuesday, should Simmons not be ready. Fultz would start at the point.
“I was told that his back was sore before the game and that they had manipulated it,” Brown said. “That was for me to be aware of it, so I wasn’t surprised. When the game started, I was paying attention to him. It didn’t feel right and it didn’t look entirely right. And we decided to get him out after making that judgment.”
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The Sixers were down, 26-10, before turning to J.J. Redick and T.J. McConnell. By the end of the first quarter, they were within 32-30.
Redick finished with 31 points, including the winning threepointer with 17 seconds left. He was
8-for-13 from distance.
“We needed every bit of Redick tonight,” Brown said.
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The 76ers’ annual awards campaign has begun. The platform this time: Simmons for NBA first-team All-Defense.
“I hope,” Brown said the other night, to a room full of basketball reporters, “you write that.”
From an organization that successfully has organized support for Michael Carter-Williams and Simmons for Rookie of the Year, was the first to preach that Robert Covington was All-Defense caliber and actively trumpeted Joel Embiid as an All-Star, such a push was in character.
Simmons does have a rare ability to smother point guards 10 inches shorter and also be a defensive force in the frontcourt. With 140, Simmons J.J. was fifth in the NBA in steals last season. And he had five through the Sixers’ first two games, tied for second in an early crowded field. He was also second in defensive rebounds with 24, behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 27. Early? Of course.
But the Sixers are not an organization to let a campaign fizzle without noise. And if elected, Simmons will be happy to serve.
“I want to be,” he said Saturday. “That’s my goal. It’s definitely one of my goals, anyway.”
••• Orlando coach Steve Clifford was once an assistant to Brown’s father, Bob Brown, at Boston University. He still receives advice from the elder Brown.
“Two nights ago, when we beat Miami, one of the first texts I got was from him,” Clifford said. “He said, ‘Good win, good way to start.’ Then he gave me a couple suggestions and moved on.”
In that, Bob Brown was something of an adviser to both coaches Saturday.
“I bet you he is tougher on Brett,” Clifford said, smiling. “He was good to me. But Coach Brown is a tough guy.”
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NOTES >> Joel Embiid had 32 points,
10 rebounds, and a late-game “MVP, MVP” serenade ...The Sixers continued to play without Jerryd Bayless (knee), Wilson Chandler (hamstring) and Mike Muscala (ankle). Chandler expects to return sometime after the Sixers’ road trip to Detroit and Milwaukee this week. Muscala: “I’m getting there. Still day-to-day.”