Point guard matchup: Darren Collison v Ben Simmons
Darren Collison
Pertinent stats:
12.7 PPG, 5.4 APG, 1.4 SPG, 49.9% shooting, 45.7% 3pt shooting (first in the NBA), 87.4% free throw shooting, 127 offensive rating.
Collison is enjoying a huge renaissance in his age 30 season, posting career-high shooting numbers across the board. The Pacers offense has seemed to flow seamlessly with him out there, and that’s reflected in his astronomical 127 offensive rating. DC has been mostly healthy this year, only missing time after a minor arthroscopic surgery at the All-Star break. Collison has done what many players couldn’t, coming back from the knee surgery and picking up right where he left off. The defense has never been a forte for DC, and that trend has continued. Though he hasn’t been particularly bad on that end, that’s damning with faint praise. By most any advanced metric, Collison is having the most impactful season of his career during his second stint with the blue and gold.
vs.
Ben Simmons
Pertinent Stats:
16 PPG, 8 APG, 7.9 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 53.8% shooting, 0% 3pt shooting, 57% free throw shooting.
Simmons has made his way into the NBA scene in a big way during his rookie year. Simmons starts as the nominal point guard, but at 6’10 and 230 pounds, he’s anything but a typical floor general. His passing vision and ball handling are elite, and he presents huge matchup problems. Simmons will often guard opposing forwards on defense, leaving J.J. Redick to defend the point of attack and Robert Covington to guard shooting guards (more on that later). On scores and dead ball plays, it’s most likely that Thad Young or Bojan Bogdanovic will match up against Simmons. The real problem comes in off turnovers or rebounds. DC will struggle mightily to do anything at all guarding Simmons, who can back him down and pass over his head with ease. Simmons is an elite talent, but he does have massive holes in his game. He’s attempted only 10 3’s this year and is 0-10. He’s also shooting merely 57% from the line. This combination of factors can hurt teams significantly more in the postseason than the regular season when teams can really game plan against weaknesses and dare guys like Simmons to shoot.
Advantage: Sixers. For now. If the Pacers can limit turnovers and Philly’s transition game, the advantages Ben Simmons possesses become much less impactful, and the lack of spacing he generates could really hurt the Sixers offense.