Has Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers arrived, or has her recent piece been a big tease?

These are the Anfernee Simons that his Portland Trail Blazers teammates were delighted with.

The Simons who pulls the lights in practice and uses his speed and agility to create opportunities. The Simons who are a handful at the center of practice.

This Simons has made appearances in Blazers games before, but he seems to have reached another level in the team’s last two games. In Sunday’s win over New York and Monday’s loss to Oklahoma City, Simons played 52 minutes, shooting 16 of 26 (61.5%) from the field and 10 of 16 (62.5%) three-for-one. 42 points.

Simons has never scored so many points in consecutive games. Not even when he scored 37 against Sacramento in the last regular season game of his rookie season (2018-19). He scored zero in the previous game. In fact, 37 was Simons’ previous record for consecutive games.

On Monday against the Thunder, Simons scored 26 on 10 of 16 shots, made 6 of 10 threes and had a vicious dunk at the base driving, left, that showed his top-level abilities. This is the second most points he has ever scored in a game.

None of Simons’ exploits, however, were surprised by his teammates. They’ve seen it all behind closed doors.

“There’s a reason we have a lot of confidence in Ant and why we talk about him so well,” said Damian Lillard.

If Simons continues to play well, the Blazers could do well in this next six-game road streak minus CJ McCollum (left foot broken) and center Jusuf Nurkic (right wrist broken).

But two games don’t make a budding superstar. Prior to Simons’ last two outings, he had scored just 15 field goals in 50 attempts in 11 games.

On the one hand, one could argue that Simons’ game did not warrant more playing time. On the other hand, one could argue that he should be allowed to overcome his shortcomings. It’s easier said than done when Lillard and McCollum eat about 70 minutes per game and Gary Trent Jr. gets 25.4. There are only 96 minutes available combined at the two guard stations.

So when Simons gets on the field he has better offspring or the leash will be short.

With McCollum out for at least four weeks, his 33.8 minutes opened up for the shooter. What was bad for the team was good for Simons. But only if he continues to enjoy it.

So far, Simons has done it, but will it continue? He likely won’t shoot 62.5% from the field in the next few weeks. It would be unrealistic. He will have his games on the ground. But his overwhelming confidence is evident. He said he had worked hard all season, spending extra time in the training facility working on his game.

“I think (my game) shows all of the hard work I’ve done,” Simons said.

Simons said Lillard gave him some great advice on taking his time on the pitch while being aggressive while being considerate of his teammates.

“He was just trying to teach me different ways to attack using each possession, just to keep the other players on my team engaged,” said Simons.

Simons often takes on the role of playmaker, playing while Lillard is resting. However, this is not a role that Simons excelled at. He has just nine assists this season in 168 minutes. He’s only had four in the last three games playing 67 minutes.

Simons often doesn’t hold the ball long enough to provide an assist. He wastes little time looking for his shot. But it’s not bad at all. McCollum is essentially the back-up leader. When McCollum returns, Simons might have plenty of time to play marksmanship with Lillard or McCollum.

This will only help Simons look open, which he has done playing with Lillard here and there in the last few games.

“The guys are teaming up with him, so we have a lot of open kiteshots, and we have to take advantage of that and knock them down,” said Simons.

Lillard pointed out Monday that Simons, ranked 24th by the Blazers in the 2018 NBA Draft, has not played in college and remains young at just 21. Simons, said Lillard, just needs experience, confidence and an opportunity.

“I think he’s been showing signs the whole time,” Lillard said. “Sometimes he’s got into games in the past and had big games and hit big shots.

The fact that Simons had organized back-to-back strong games was encouraging for Lillard.

“He had a great night last night, and this game kind of bleed tonight, in terms of his confidence and aggression,” Lillard said after Monday’s game.

Now in his third year with more minutes to come, Simons is making some big hits so far, which comes as no surprise to anyone in a Blazers uniform. Maybe the increased confidence will lead to continued success.

“It’s definitely what we think it can be,” said Lillard. “He can come in and score the ball. He can get to places on the ground, you can make plays and all that, so it’s good to see him put on back-to-back matches like that.

– Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress(Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).

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