A deep play-off run could have jeopardised Simmons’ and theBoomers’ plans for next month’s Tokyo Olympics,which will start immediately after the NBA finals,but that potential problem was eased after the 76ers were beaten 103-96 at home in the deciding seventh game by the Hawks on Monday (AEST).
Rivers had previously dubbed Simmons “a treasure” as the 76ers ousted the Wizards in the first round of the play-offs but his confidence deteriorated against the Hawks.
His unwillingness to shoot was reinforced in that he took only three shots through a combined seven fourth quarters,including none in the final four games.
He averaged only 9.9 points per game and shot 33 per cent from the free throw line in the conference semi-finals. ESPN reported that Simmons’ 34.2 per cent free-throw percentage through the postseason was the worst in NBA history from a minimum of 70 attempts.
NBA great Charles Barkley said Simmons would not be a star on a title team until he was prepared to shoot,and shoot confidently.
“Ben Simmons can be an All-Star but that’s all he can be until he learns how to shoot,” Barkley said on TNT.
“My second-best player can’t shoot,I can’t go to him with the game on the line,I don’t even have him in the game … you can’t have a guy on the court who is afraid to shoot the basketball.”
Basketball Australia officials now expect Simmons to link up with a 19-man Boomers squad in Los Angeles,where coach Brian Goorjian will hold training sessions.
A final squad of 12,named early next month,will then head to Las Vegas for exhibition games against the United States,Nigeria and Argentina,en route to Tokyo.
Electrifying Hawks point guard Trae Young and his teammates are taking their stunning turnaround to the eastern conference finals at the expense of Simmons and the top-seeded Sixers.
Young made a late three-pointer and scored 21 points to help Atlanta win for the third time in the series in Philadelphia,103-96,in game seven.
The Hawks will open their first east finals since 2015 against the Bucks on Thursday in Milwaukee.
Atlanta had been 0-9 in games sevens on the road.
But the Hawks ignored their ignominious history and got one in Philly,where they already won in game one and game five and knocked out Joel Embiid,Simmons,and closed the book on ‘The Process’.
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Simmons only attempted four shots from the field,andonly took more than 10 shots in two out of the seven games in the series. The jungle drums were already beating with serious trade talk involving Simmons and the rest of the Sixers’ nucleus.
Not so deep down,not even the Hawks could have seen this result coming,especially in March when they were 14-20,11th in the East,and fired coach Lloyd Pierce.
Under new coach Nate McMillan,who led the Indiana Pacers last year,the Hawks turned into birds of prey and Young led a charge into the postseason for the first time since 2017 that kept rolling with a first-round win over New York.
Embiid,Simmons,and a high-priced cast of stars under established,former Boston Celtics championship-winning coach Rivers were supposed to put the upstart Hawks in their place. That never happened.
The 22-year-old Young shook off an otherwise off night from the floor and kept confidently shooting until he hit ‘that three’ for a 93-87 lead with 2:31 left in the game.
Kevin Huerter,who led the Hawks with 27 points,sealed the win with three free throws and the packed house of 18,624 fell as silent as it was when the season opened without any fans.
Sixers fans let the home team have it and booed them off the court and were reprimanded by the public address announcer for throwing trash on the court.
Embiid top-scored with 31 points,while Simmons finished with five points,eight rebounds,and 13 assists.
This marked only the second year since 1973 - when the NBA began seeding for the play-offs by conference - when neither No.1 seed will make the conference finals. The west’s top seed,Joe Ingles’ Utah Jazz,was eliminated by the LA Clippers.
The 19-man Boomers Olympic squad
Aron Baynes,Ryan Broekhoff,Xavier Cooks,Mitchell Creek,Matthew Dellavedova,Dante Exum,Josh Giddey,Chris Goulding,Josh Green,Isaac Humphries,Joe Ingles,Nick Kay,Jock Landale,Patty Mills,Brock Motum,Duop Reath,Ben Simmons,Nathan Sobey,and Matisse Thybulle.
With AP