Ben Simmons did not look very good during the Philadelphia 76ers' Game 1 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday afternoon, finishing with just nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.

It was universally accepted that Simmons would have to be better in Game 2—and throughout the rest of the series in general—for the 76ers to do what was expected of them and dispatch the Nets, and he answered the bell.

Simmons tallied 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in what ended up being a 22-point Philadelphia victory on Monday night to even up its first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with Brooklyn, 1-1.

With Joel Embiid clearly not 100 percent, Simmons had to step up, and he did.

So, what was different about Simmons in Game 2?

Well, basically, he had a much better sense of what his role should be.

In Game 1, Simmons looked disconnected and almost appeared not to know where to be on the floor or when to look for his own shot. As a result, the Nets were able to collapse on drives from Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris and crowded Embiid in the paint, as Simmons' complete lack of a perimeter jumper allowed Brooklyn to cheat quite a bit, almost like an NFL team stacking the box against a rushing-heavy opponent.

But in Game 2, Simmons was much more active, remaining on the move and taking matters into his own hands much more often than he did on Saturday when the Sixers looked disjointed as a whole.

We know what Butler can do, and with Embiid ailing, he is the 76ers' best player (his seven-point outing in Game 2 notwithstanding). So it's up to Simmons to be that other guy for Philly and fill a role that the squad so desperately needs.

Don't get me wrong: Simmons can still be an offensive liability at times, and that will remain the case until he learns how to shoot (if he ever learns how to shoot). But, he can also be a viable weapon thanks to his unique blend of size, athleticism and ball-handling ability that allows him to punish defenders off the dribble.

When Simmons has his dribble-drive game going, it opens up the Sixers offense, as defenses then have to consider throwing help over on whomever is guarding Simmons, which may, in turn, open up guys like Butler, Harris and J.J. Redick (especially Redick) for easy buckets.

And look what happened: with Simmons getting into a little rhythm in Game 2, Redick started to get going with him, as he finished with 17 points off 7-of-12 shooting following a dreadful Game 1 performance in which he scored a meager five points.

Not only that, but Simmons' solid offensive contest even prompted Mike Scott to heat up, as Scott tallied a key 15 points off the bench.

Make no mistake about it: this is the version of Simmons the 76ers will need if they want to have any chance of making real noise in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

They can't have the Simmons we saw in Game 1, the guy we saw throughout Philadelphia's entire second-round playoff series with the Boston Celtics last spring. They need the one we witnessed on Monday evening, where Simmons looked confident, aggressive and assertive. Not to the point where he was forcing the issue, but just enough where he was making the Sixers' offense more dangerous.

With the 76ers having a relatively limited cap on their offensive potential due to their lack of perimeter shooting and horrific bench, they need their stars to put their best foot forward.

There really isn't a whole lot of room for error with this team because of the fact that it is very thin and because its floor spacing is so tight. That's why Philadelphia needs Game 2 Simmons to show up for just about every game in this postseason, as that is when the Sixers are at their best.

And you know what? Philly might need an even more involved Simmons in Game 3, because no one really knows just how Embiid is going to be feeling on Thursday. He might feel like he did in Game 2 and shoot 8-of-12 in an efficient performance. Or, we might get Game 1 Embiid, when he was clearly hobbled and gassed and ended up jacking up five three-pointers (he didn't take a single three in Game 2).

The question is, can Simmons put together these types of outings on a consistent basis in the postseason? We haven't seen him been able to do that just yet, but perhaps Game 2 represented a turning point for him, and if it did, then that's bad news for the Nets.