Sixers' Tobias Harris, Doc Rivers React to Ben Simmons' Monster Night vs. Jazz

Ben Simmons had himself a night.

The Philadelphia 76ers anticipated having Joel Embiid in the lineup on Monday night against the Utah Jazz. Although the big man was questionable throughout the day, he participated in the team's morning shootaround and was on track to play.

A couple of hours before tip-off, Doc Rivers mentioned he had no idea Embiid's back tightness was bothering him. And as far as the head coach was concerned, he was under the impression Embiid was good to go.

But less than 20 minutes before the start of the game, the Sixers considered Embiid to be a late-scratch. At that point, Sixers veteran Ben Simmons knew he had to step it up for his team even more than he typically would on Monday night.

Simmons was perfect from the field in the first quarter, knocking down all seven of his shots and all five of his free throws for 19 points. As he garnered a lot of rest in the second quarter, Simmons didn't score more than two points.

Recently, we've seen a much more aggressive Ben Simmons on the offensive end early on in games, but it's not always sustained. On Monday night, though, the story was entirely different. 

In the third quarter, Simmons put up another 13 points to tie his career-high of 34 points. Then in the fourth, he collected another eight points, totaling for a new career-high of 42 points. In a game where they were defeated 134-123, the Sixers didn't have much to celebrate afterward. However, Doc Rivers and Tobias Harris still issued credit where it's due following the matchup. 

"He had to be [aggressive]," Rivers said after the game. "I didn't know we were going to get the 42 points out of him, but he did everything. He guarded, you know, did a good job. Played with pace -- we anticipated once Joel was scratched, we were trying to create a lineup where [Rudy] Gobert would guard Ben, and that happened."

Rivers felt that if the Sixers could draw a center to come and defend Simmons, then there was no way they would be able to stop the two-time All-Star's speed. Obviously, Rivers had the correct strategy as Utah didn't have an answer for Simmons.

"Man, from the start of the game, he was just on a mission out there," said Tobias Harris. "You just saw another element of his game, I think. Being at the five and being a roller -- how fast he was rolling to the basket -- that opened up the floor for everybody out there tonight."

Harris isn't one to celebrate moral victories, but it was hard for the veteran forward to hold back from praising his teammate's outstanding performance. "He was pretty amazing," Harris continued. "Obviously, it would've been better to get a win and [have Ben] get a 40-point triple-double, but we'll just have to save that for another time."

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