BOSTON — Anfernee Simons flashed the defensive focus from his offseason immediately on opening night. He chased down Tyrese Maxey in transition and ripped the ball from him as Maxey arrived at the rim, breaking up one of the many 76ers breakouts that cost Boston. Elsewhere, Simons swiped the ball from Joel Embiid sneaking behind him, and helped on Kelly Oubre Jr., stripping him for Simons’ first steal as a Celtic.
“Just coming in here early, getting in here early and trying to get those things sured up early on,” Simons said. “This training camp was hard for me and just bringing that intensity each and every day at practice, and doing it in the preseason games, just learning each and every time, I won’t say I’ll be perfect, but I’m making gradual improvements and I think tonight, I think I did pretty well, wasn’t perfect, made some mistakes, but I showed up. I’m proud of myself about that area.”
Team defense ultimately cost Boston on Opening Night. The offense was an issue at times, Joe Mazzulla argued, when bad Celtics possessions turned into fast break baskets for the Sixers. That all seemed to encapsulate Simons’ night. He started slow offensively, in his Boston debut, but finished with 13 points and flashed the defensive strides he has focused on since early in the summer. He spent much of the offseason at the Auerbach Center, diving into concepts, the new language and system that differed drastically from the Trail Blazers’ approach. The Celtics hoped, following an offseason of uncertainty over whether he’d remain with the team for salary cap reasons, that a new setting would bring the best out of him.
He accepted it, saying on Media Day that his previous defensive issues stemmed, in part, from effort. Joe Mazzulla found he could jab at the guard, challenging Simons to improve in that area or his Boston tenure may not go how he envisions it. Mazzulla also reassured Simons that he’s not as bad as people say.
The work that followed captured former Blazers teammate Jabari Walker’s attention as he began his new tenure with Philadelphia. Simons’ performance, defensively, stood out so much following a preseason game that Walker texted Simons to congratulate his efforts.
“‘Man, your defense looks great. You been hooping,’” Walker told him.
“Because I’ve seen he’s been putting in more of a defensive effort. I know that’s one of the things they called on him to improve, and so I just loved the way he took pride in that, so I messaged him.”
“It’s gonna be a big season for both of us,” Simons responded.
Walker also acknowledged that a change of scenery could help Simons, along with the motivation of getting traded for the first time. Both Walker and Celtics assistant Ross McMains saw Simons’ quickness, length and fast hands as ways he could factor more consistently on the defensive end. McMains, who knew Simons from their workouts together through Simons’ agency early in his Portland tenure, believed that his intelligence could allow him to make quick decisions in a Celtics system that values adjusting on the fly. And this year, they’re taking more calculated risks on that end and those led to Simons’ best moments in the loss.
The path to Wednesday’s success involved personal acknowledgement, swiping drills he never remembered doing previously and a step back into a smaller role. Simons came off the bench on Opening Night after being Portland’s offensive hub for years. He understood it, and views himself as fitting into what Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard created, and as Mazzulla alluded to, the starting unit meant little when Boston turned to a three-guard lineup for most of the fourth quarter with Simons. Then, played five perimeter players on the final possession.
Simons admits going through his first trade hasn’t been easy. But he’s heard from many friends like Walker who have checked in through the process.
“He’s one of quite a few — the guys that you build close relationships with everywhere you’ve been,” Simons said of Walker. “They see you in a new situation, they see it’s your first time being traded and they just want to check in on you and see how you’re doing with the adjustment, because some understand it’s a real adjustment and it might take a while to feel fully comfortable doing it, but you gotta take it day-by-day and just be present.”
“I feel pretty good. Obviously, not fully I would say, but I’m getting there, and I think constant communication with the coaches, players and us getting a feel of how we’re gonna play each and every night I think is gonna help out as well, just getting the live reps.”
