Ben Simmons: 'I Need to Get Buckets' with Kevin Durant Out
The Brooklyn Nets, once again, let the game get away from them in the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. In a crucial quarter where Brooklyn only tallied 16 points and have Boston steal the contest, it was also the first example of why Ben Simmons needs to look to score with Kevin Durant sidelined.
Simmons, who went scoreless on only three shot attempts in the Nets' 109-98 loss to the Celtics, went on a passing spree. Despite distributing a season-high 13 assists, he lacked the aggression to score throughout the contest. It's the second time this season the point forward failed to score all season.
On one of his dishes around the basket to a cutting Nic Claxton, the Barclays Center crowd wasn’t pleased with Simmons’ decision not going for the score. A small handful of the 18, 125 sellout crowd voiced lingering boos of displeasure.
“Being assertive and being aggressive and knowing my team needs that. I think I was giving the ball a few too many times," Simmons said postgame. "I know who I am. I know I need to get to the rim. I know I need to get buckets. That’s also going to help my teammates to get them going."
Brooklyn has survived in the past with Simmons' lack of scoring. For roughly the next month, there will be no Durant to deliver high amounts of scoring. In a contest that had Kyrie Irving taking the majority of shots in the fourth to give the Nets hope of a slim comeback, Simmons' doesn't feel the pressure to deliver a scoring punch of an offense deprived of their best weapon.
“I wouldn’t call it pressure. I think it’s something I need to do to help the team," said Simmons on looking to score. "I’m also looking at 13 assists. They had too many second chances and rebounds. There are a lot of things in this game we can cut down."
Irving, who led Brooklyn with a game-high 24 points, explained how the team isn't applying 'too much pressure' on Simmons to put the ball in the basket. The Nets' de facto No. 1 option simply wants his co-star to be 'himself' and be 'aggressive.'
"He’s just gotta be himself. We’re not gonna put too much pressure on him," Irving said postgame. "We’re not gonna let this one particular game or any other games where he scored eight points, four points, it doesn’t matter. It’s all on us as a team to collectively put points on the board, and when he gets his opportunities, we just want him to be aggressive."
The Nets' head coach Jacque Vaughn echoed a similar statement, shooting down the heavy need for Simmons to score. When the coach was asked postgame whether the team can win games without their 26-year-old star being aggressive to score, Vaughn replied that Simmons' force on the defensive end can hopefully lead to shots down on the other end.
“I look at it more than the scoring piece. I always look at like does the possession render. I think he got guys shots throughout the course of the night. My thing is going to be on the defensive end with Ben," Vaughn said postgame. The impact that he has to have without Kevin being on the floor.
"We’re asking Nic [Claxton] to do a lot, be at the rim to protect the rim. Ben’s got to protect the rim. Ben’s got to be able to be a force for us on the defensive end of the floor so that we can play small, play three guards out there so we can have shooting around him. We’ve got to be more up to having force on the defensive end of the floor and then hopefully we can make some shots.”
Simmons is averaging only 6.0 shots this season, compiling averages of 7.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.4 steals in 27.2 minutes per game this season.
