All 76ers

Sixers' Ben Simmons Finally Feels Comfortable Taking Threes

Ben Simmons feels confident in his shot these days.

Justin Grasso

The Philadelphia 76ers dominated the Orlando Magic without a problem on New Year's Eve. While every player who got in the game had a big moment at some point, Sixers guard Ben Simmons had everybody talking about him early on in the game as he drained his first attempted three-point shot of the season.

In the past, outside of a few rare scenarios, Simmons would avoid taking a shot from beyond the arc no matter what. As he continues to work on it in practice and during shootarounds, the fourth-year All-Star feels more comfortable taking it.

Typically, Simmons tends to downplay any three-point-related questions coming from the media. However, on Thursday night, the veteran guard felt good and made it clear he's confident in his shot these days.

“Joel [Embiid] threw the pass; he knew I was gonna put it up,” Simmons said after Thursday's win over the Magic. “It was a shot that I work on, corner threes. I feel comfortable taking it, so I knocked it down.”

Simmons' teammate Seth Curry hasn't been around the fourth-year guard for long, but after practicing with Simmons for about a month at this point, he was hardly surprised to see Simmons launch a three without hesitation and convert.

“I’ve seen him make it in practice, and I know he can knock it down,” Curry mentioned. “Especially from the corner, so it’s just a matter of him doing it in a game and stepping into it with confidence. It didn’t look like there was too much hesitation on the shot, and I expected it to go in, to be honest.”

Will Simmons' newfound confidence in his long-range shot get him to take threes more often? Many would probably hope, but don't count on it becoming a regular occurrence. Simmons isn't going to hit the court and launch threes for the sake of doing it -- and Doc Rivers made it clear he's not going to head down the same road as Brett Brown and ask for at least one three-point shot-per-game. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_ 

Published
Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

Home/News