The NBA announced today that Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played between Monday, Feb. 25 and Sunday, March 3. This is the second time in Simmons’ two-year career he has received the honor and first since April 2-8, 2018. With Joel Embiid named Player of the Week for Dec. 31-Jan.6, Philadelphia becomes the fourth team in the NBA this season to have multiple players receive the honor.
Congrats @BenSimmons25 on being named Eastern Conference Player of the Week! #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/y0HSaveeeJ
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 4, 2019
Simmons joins Embiid and Andre Miller as well as Hall of Famers Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, Julius Erving and Moses Malone as the only Philadelphia players to receive the honor multiple times since its inception in 1979-80.
Simmons led the 76ers to a 2-1 week, including road wins over Western Conference opponents, New Orleans and the Oklahoma City. The week saw Simmons average 16.7 points, 13.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game, while shooting .550 from the field. He is one of two players in the NBA this season to hold these averages over single a week.
The Australia native opened up the week with a 14-point, 12-rebound performance, good for one of his three double-doubles of the week and one of his 36 on the season. At halftime, Simmons had 12 points and 11 rebounds. This was the third time this season he had posted a double-double in a game’s opening half.
On Thursday, Simmons led Philadelphia to its first-ever win in Oklahoma City as he recorded his ninth triple-double of the season with 11 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, two blocks and two steals. He is the only player in the league this season record a triple-double against the Thunder and he is the first player from the East to do so in Oklahoma City since Dwight Howard on Nov. 12, 2008.
Simmons closed out the week with his second straight triple-double and 10th of the season with 25 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists and three steals against Golden State. He is the only player in the NBA this season to put up such a stat line in a single game and is the first Eastern Conference player to post a triple-double versus the Warriors this season.
Across the three games, Simmons accounted for nearly .300 percent of Philadelphia’s rebounds and assists.
Overall, the Louisiana State product holds season averages of 17.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He joins Denver’s Nikola Jokić and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook as the only players in the league averaging at least 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists per game.
Follow @eldorado2452 on Twitter and Instagram for all your sports news.
© 2019, Eldorado2452. All rights reserved.
