Anfernee Simons is still adapting to a new role in Boston after being acquired via trade this summer. The former Blazers guard started every game for the past two years before being asked to take on a sixth man role in Boston.
Entering Friday’s game, it had been a bit of a bumpy transition for Simons, as the 26-year-old had finished dead last on the roster in plus/minus through the team’s 2-3 start. Simons had some solid individual games, but it hadn’t translated much to team success when he was on the court just yet.
That equation changed on Friday night, though, in a wild 109-108 Celtics win in Philadelphia over the previously undefeated 76ers. Simons scored 19 points off the bench in the victory, the second highest mark on the team behind Jaylen Brown. More importantly, he topped the team in plus/minus with a sensational plus-23 in a one-point win over his 29 minutes of action.
Simons led the team in shot attempts (21) in the victory and that was a byproduct of a changed mentality from the reserve guard in his new home.
“Coach has been telling me to be myself, be aggressive,” Simons told reporters in Philadelphia. “Tonight was probably the most aggressive I’ve ever been. It’s just figuring out from there, continuing to read the game and figure out what the game needs and be myself in the midst of that. Coaches have been begging me to be more aggressive and I think I was aggressive today, just hoping next time I make a couple more shots.”
Simons shot just 7-of-21 from the field in the victory and 3-of-9 from 3-point range, but it did not feel like an off shooting night. Boston’s offense was at its best when Simons was on the floor forcing the issue, and he also held his own defensively against a talented Sixers backcourt. For the first time, the case even could have been made that Simons should have been on the floor more in crunch time when Boston nearly blew a 10-point lead in the final three minutes.
Simons is now averaging 15.5 points per game on the year with terrific shooting from 3-point range (40 percent). If he continues to find his groove with this new mentality within Boston’s second unit offense, the Celtics will be a much better team for it.
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