The Celtics’ season has been defined by adjustment, and no player embodies that better than Anfernee Simons.
Before arriving in Boston, Simons spent three and a half seasons as a starter in Portland, serving as the team’s primary option during his final two years. Now in Boston, he’s been asked to embrace a Sixth Man role — a shift that demands new rhythms, new responsibilities, and, unsurprisingly, has come with some early growing pains.
Some nights, Simons has delivered the offensive burst the Celtics hoped for when they acquired him. Last season, he led the Trail Blazers in scoring 28 times and in assists 31 times, while averaging at least 17 points per game in each of the previous four years. Other nights, he has been virtually invisible or hasn’t even been on the floor, and for a player who averaged 30 minutes per game over the past four seasons, that kind of fluctuation in playing time has been one of the toughest adjustments to manage.
“I mean, obviously, the human side, it’s not easy. Just feeling like, ‘what could I have done better in those times?’ But also, just controlling the controllables and living with the results after that,” Simons said. “I think that’s what I’ve been trying to hammer down over the past couple of games: just controlling the controllables and letting everything fall into place. So I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of dealing with all that and dealing with the emotional side of it, and just knowing that if I’m playing 15 minutes long as I did what I had to do in those 15 minutes, and we’re coming out with wins, then that’s all that matters.”
But things are starting to click for Simons. In Sunday night’s win over the Orlando Magic, he scored 23 points on 8-of-11 (72.7%) shooting from the field and 4-of-7 (57.1%) from three, adding five rebounds and two assists in just 22 minutes. That came a night after a 23-point, 10-of-16 shooting performance with four rebounds and three assists against the Nets.
It’s the first time he has scored 20 or more points in consecutive games as a Celtic, and it matches his total number of 20+ point games from the first 15 games of the season.
“He’s playing his role really well. I think he’s giving us everything,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He’s trying to understand the system. He’s learning. He’s competing. I think he’s just getting more comfortable coming off the bench and being aggressive right away. In the first few games, he was kind of easing into it. I think the last few, he’s kind of like, that’s what we need him to be, and so he’s done a great job of that. And just scoring in a bunch of different ways. So it’s good to see him do that.”
The growing comfort level is evident. Over his last three games, Simons is averaging 19 points on 67.7% shooting from the field and 50% from three, with 3.7 assists and 4.0 rebounds. His 57 total points are the second-most by any bench player over that stretch, trailing only Naz Reid (59). The defense, which has been closely scrutinized, has also trended in the right direction, with Mazzulla calling his presence on that end “the best it’s been all season” following Friday’s game.
What’s changed for Simons?
“Honestly, just keeping it simple,” he said. “You know, in previous years, that was kind of my thing — just ease into the game and see how they guarded me, and then start being more aggressive in the second half. Here, obviously, I don’t have that much time to be able to ease into the game. So just taking the opportunity that’s there, just being myself aggressive, and also making the right plays as well. So I think simplifying that way, it’s been easy for me for the past couple of games.”
The 26-year-old deserves some patience as he acclimates to a new role. As he describes it, his process has been "flipped," requiring him to think differently about when and how to attack.
“It’s for sure an adjustment,” said Simons. “Like I said, the past couple of years, when you started, teams are guarding you aggressively from the jump. And so now you’ve got to take your time and read the game and see how the best way you can attack it. So that was my thought process going into each and every game. And now everything is kind of flipped. So it’s just a change of how you’re going to approach each and every game, and how you are going to do the small things as well, that Joe wants me to do, and the whole coaching staff wants me to do, and also just being myself as well.”
If this is the Simons the Celtics are going to get as he grows more comfortable in his new role, he could become a real game-changer for an offense that has struggled for consistency, averaging just 114.6 points per game, 22nd in the NBA. He’s one of the NBA’s most dynamic scorers, and his firepower could go a long way toward helping the Celtics ignite their attack. We’ve already seen glimpses of that upside: the Celtics are 3–1 when he scores 20 or more.
“That’s what we need,” Jaylen Brown said. “Anfernee is capable offensively. We’ve got to continue to find spots and space for him to be a playmaker for himself and for others. Be aggressive. He’s capable, so we’ve got to continue to empower finding that rhythm for him. It’s not easy coming off the bench, a new role for him, but I think he’s been adjusting well. I’m finding ways, the coaching staff is finding ways specifically to get him in some actions and get him going a little bit because he can fill it up if you give him space.”
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