Jaylen Brown Gives New Thoughts On Celtics Teammate Anfernee Simons
The Boston Celtics got back above .500 on Sunday with a win over the Orlando Magic. Celtics star Jaylen Brown led the way with 35 points on an efficient 14-of-26 from the field, while Anfernee Simons led all Celtics bench scorers with 23 points on an even more efficient 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-7 from downtown.
Simons also added five rebounds and two assists against Orlando, and he didn’t commit a single turnover in 22 minutes.
It was a welcome sight for the Celtics and their fan base, who have watched Simons struggle with consistency as he’s been in and out of head coach Joe Mazzulla’s favor due to defensive effort.
Simons is now averaging 14.4 points, 2.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game in 24.9 minutes per game for the Celtics. When adjusted to a per-36-minutes rate, those numbers become 20.8 points, 3.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds (for context, Brown played 37 minutes against the Magic on Sunday).
Simons is one of the most gifted scorers on the Celtics, without a doubt. It’ll be interesting to see how Mazzulla manages him from here on out, but it makes sense that Joe is keeping Simons on his toes early on in the campaign. Mazzulla knows that the Celtics needs Simons’s scoring for them to be the best version of themselves, but he also doesn’t want Simons thinking he can get away with mailing it in on defense just because his scoring is essential.
Sunday’s performance may have been a perfect snapshot of how Simons can best help this Celtics squad, at least offensively-speaking. Brown seemed to think so in speaking about Simons post-game.
“That’s what we need,” Brown said of Simons, per CLNS Media. “Anfernee is capable offensively. We’ve got to continue to find spots and space for him to be a playmaker for himself and for others. Be aggressive… It’s not easy coming off the bench, a new role for him. But, I think he’s been adjusting well.”