The Philadelphia 76ers earned the number one seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs with a regular season record of 49-23. The 76ers were able to win their opening series against the Washington Wizards 4-1, although Russell Westbrook and company gave them all they could handle. However, once again, they failed to qualify for the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Atlanta Hawks in 7 games in the semifinals.
In my opinion, the problem is Ben Simmons, who at 6-10 is not a prototypical point guard. Although he has tremendous skill as a rebounder and a facilitator, he’s not a scorer or a pure shooter. Against the Hawks Simmons shot 34.2% from the free-throw line, accounting for the worst free throw percentage in NBA Playoff history for a player with at least 70 attempts.
For his career, Simmons has shot 56% on field goals and an abysmal 14.7% from three-point range. He was particularly bad in the pivotal game 7 versus the Hawks, scoring just 5 points for the entire contest and shooting under 30% from the charity stripe. The 76ers need to do better at point guard than Ben Simmons if they ever hope to bring a championship to the city of brotherly love.