Philadelphia 76ers point-forward Ben Simmons scored just four points in the first half of their Game 3 playoffs showdown with the Atlanta Hawks. Surprisingly, he finished with 18 points.
That sudden turnaround in performance, however, could be credited to Joel Embiid who had a simple but encouraging message for the Sixers playmaker at half time.
“I just told him, ‘You need to be aggressive and you need to attack, because there's a lot of space. Especially with the way they’re guarding me,'” Embiid shared, per Andrew Jackson of Fox Sports.
“So I told him to just be aggressive and just go out there and just dominate.”
Indeed, Ben Simmons appeared to listen and it paid off big time for the Sixers. By the end of the third quarter, Simmons already had 15 points to help give the Sixers a 20-point lead entering the final period. The Hawks never recovered from that 34-19 third quarter as Philly took the 2-1 lead.
Even Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green noticed the shift in aggressiveness, sharing his reaction on how he loved the Australian's play during the game.
The Sixers will need the same aggressive version of Ben Simmons to show up in Game 4 if they want to take full control of the series after losing Game 1. Trae Young and his Hawks have shown they are not an easy team to repel, and so Philly cannot afford any mistake or lackluster performance from their stars.
Fortunately though, it looks like Joel Embiid knows exactly how to motivate his All-Star teammate.
Follow Us
Subscribe