Through four playoff games so far, in a series in which the Philadelphia 76ers lead the Washington Wizards three games to one, Ben Simmons is averaging 13.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. He has had a positive box score plus/minus in every game — +18 in Game 1 and Game 2, +27 in Game 3, and +4 in Game 4 — and is doing everything from running an effective offense to playing his usual brilliant defense on the other side of the floor.
But he also went to the foul line ten times in this series before he finally converted his first free throw attempt — and then promptly missed his next one. And that, of course, is what 76ers fans are going to pick up on in a series that seems to be comfortably theirs, where the positives are a given and the negatives become magnified. Perhaps no negative, other than Joel Embiid's injury in Game 4, was greater than Simmons' free throw woes. That may have partially cost the 76ers the game, along with some other factors, considering the momentum significantly changed hands once the Wizards began to intentionally foul him à la "Hack-a-Shaq."
Simmons went 3-6 in those intentional situations, ultimately hitting 4-8 from the line in those fourth quarter attempts, and seemed uncomfortable from the eye test. After the game, he coolly dismissed that he wasn't relaxed and seemed to accept the challenge.
Doc Rivers didn't deal with reporters with the same calm demeanor. After months and months of hearing primarily the negative about Ben Simmons, and much less frequently the positive things about his game that make him one of the most unique players in the league, Rivers expressed his frustration not with Simmons, but with the media and the fans.
"...You guys keep this Ben Simmons narrative alive, which to me is freakin' insane, how good this guy is and all the things he does," Rivers said. "Ben is not a 40-point guy, that's not what he does. He does other things for your team, and I just don't understand why that's not sinking in in our city. Everybody on the team doesn't have to be a scorer to help the team. Ben scores, but Ben creates scoring for us. That's what he does.
"So, if I'm Ben, at some point I'd get tired of it. I just would. Because he's just too good, and he does so many good things for this basketball team. And I keep [saying,] celebrate him, celebrate all the stuff he does well. We don't do that enough."
Rivers then was asked specifically about the free throw shooting, and he once again explained that the narrative around Simmons only focuses on those negatives.
"He could have [made more free throws], but he didn't. But he still does other things," Rivers said. "He split them all, and again, analytically I'll take that. Obviously I want him to make more, but Ben's not an 80-percent free throw shooter... Again, listen, you guys keep the narrative going, we're just gonna keep playing."
When asked if there was anything they could do to attempt to fix his performance and production from the charity stripe, which will almost certainly come into play again throughout the inevitable close games of the postseason, Rivers suggested that they're just going to do what they've been doing.
"We'll just keep working on him... I didn't think he was scared of the moment, he just didn't make them," Rivers said. "So again, with Ben, we're gonna keep him on the floor. Unless you guys want us to bench him the whole game, if anybody wants us to do that, just let me know, and then I'll know you don't know basketball."
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