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Ben Simmons, who can not shoot shit, had the wrong sort of triple-double on Tuesday night, recording 11 turnovers against 11 points and 10 assists. This is not a rare feat in the NBA – Basketball Reference says that this has happened 81 times since 1977 – even though Simmons' combined 21 points represent the lowest total of the other triple-double columns since the 21 combined points of Kenny Carr. Rebound in a bad triple-double in 1981. It's no coincidence that this is the first time in Simmons' career that he's playing basketball against Kawhi Leonard, who is terribly good.
Simmons had seven turnovers before half-time. Kawhi stole the ball at Simmons in two of the first three possessions of the Sixers. Four of Simmons' eleven turnovers are the result of Leonard's flights, including this Kawhi's par excellence:
Kawhi was his usual hyper efficient opponent, scoring 31 points on 19 shots and zero turnaround in 34 minutes. Simmons opened the game with this defensive mission, but, to be fair, Kawhi mainly roasted all players. This is a game that will probably count for the playoffs, since the Sixers and Raptors are two of the four good teams of the Eastern Conference. The Sixers have the option of placing Bob Covington on Kawhi and saving Simmons on the defensive mission, but unless or until the Sixers hire another perimeter playmaker. [stares daggers at Tom Thibodeau] The fate of Simmons will be to be watched by the all-powerful man-octopus whenever these teams will face each other. Tuesday night was the first round of this duel, and the results for the young Australian were rather appalling.
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