Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons had a terrible Game 2, scoring just one point in their Game 2 loss to the Boston Celtics. Yet Sixers coach Brett Brown stuck with him, and he explained why he did so.

As reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Brown stuck with Simmons despite his awful game simply because he believed that the 21-year-old is the Rookie of the Year:

Brown had a choice to pull Simmons out of the game. His back up guard, T.J. McConnell, was evidently ready to provide some aid. In just 17 minutes, McConnel chipped in eight points and was 4-of-4 from the field. Simmons, meanwhile, played 30 minutes. He missed all of his four field goal attempts and had five turnovers. His +/- was -23.

Simmons, for his part, acknowledged that he's going to have bad games. It just sucks that it came in the playoffs and the result of which is the Sixers are now in a 2-0 hole.

As reported by David Murphy of Philly.com, Simmons said:

“I’m going to have bad games. It happens. Obviously, it’s not the perfect timing, but you head home now, we have two home games that we need to take care of and handle business.”

He added that his bad performance is his own doing. He thought he was thinking too much and wasn't letting it flow:

“I think it was mainly what I did to myself,” Simmons said. “I think mentally, I was just thinking too much, overthinking the plays, and wasn’t just out there flowing and playing the way I play, which is free.”