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SALT LAKE CITY — Rookie of the Year candidate Ben Simmons did not have a good showing in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Thursday.
Simmons' poor performance in the loss against the Boston Celtics sparked more debate over whether Simmons or Utah’s Donovan Mitchell deserves to win the Rookie of the Year award.
Simmons finished with one point, five rebounds and seven assists in thirty-one minutes of play. Simmons was a plus/minus of -23 in the game. It was the worst plus/minus of any Philadelphia player.
Meanwhile, when Simmons went out of the game, undrafted point guard, T.J. McConnell, took over. McConnell was a +16 in the game.
Being outplayed by an undrafted point guard, who scrapped just to make the NBA, isn’t exactly a great look for someone that has been so adamant about deserving Rookie of Year.
Simmons’ poor performance led to some Twitter jokes and opinions.
Simmons is not a good shooter and everybody knows it. The Celtics have peen playing off of Simmons, who has not made a 3-pointer in his career.
Simmons could not get past center Aron Baynes, when Baynes switched on to Simmons during a play.
Miami Heat all-star, Goran Dragić, also tweeted regarding who he thinks deserves to win Rookie of the Year.
Simmons has been persistent that he is by far the best rookie and believes that he definitely deserves to win the Rookie of the Year award.
Despite Simmons’ comments and lack of acknowledgement, Mitchell defended Simmons in shoot around this morning.
Mitchell wore this sweatshirt with defining "rookie" after Simmons’ comments. Simmons did not play in a game during his first year due to a foot injury.
Ricky Rubio wore the "rookie" shirt during Wednesday’s game two win against the Houston Rockets.
During game one, Boston Celtics’ fans also joined in on the criticism of Ben Simmons for being a true rookie. Boston fans chanted, “Not a rookie.”
https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/99113348158867865p7
These chants were in support of the rookie campaign of their own Jayson Tatum, and not necessarily in support of Mitchell’s. Mitchell however still enjoyed the chants.
While the media has already finished voting for Rookie of the Year, we can still compare and contrast the playoff performances of the two candidates.
Mitchell
Mitchell led the Jazz to a 4-2 series win over the favored Oklahoma City Thunder. The Jazz are 1-1 against against the full strength Houston Rockets, that finished with an NBA best record of 65-17.
Mitchell is averaging 26.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the playoffs. His plus/minus is an average of +1.9. He is shooting 43.5 percent from the floor, 32 percent from three, and 90.3 percent from the free throw line. For all of his stats go here.
https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/991862246719590400
Simmons
Simmons' four playoff wins came against the 44-38 Miami Heat. Simmons is 0-2 against the Boston Celtics who are far from full strength. They are missing their two best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Jaylen Brown also missed the first game of the series.
Simmons is averaging 15.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists in the playoffs. His plus/minus is an average of -0.3. He is shooting 48.1 percent from the floor, 0 percent from three, and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. For all of his stats go here.
On a side note, Mitchell has already won more playoff games in seven months of playing games for the Utah Jazz than Gordon Hayward did in seven years with the Jazz.
All of the playoff games of the two rookies will not be considered in Rookie of the Year Voting, but we will still have to wait until the NBA Awards show on June 25 to hear the winner.
