NBA: Ben Simmons at Sixers and sevens in playoff flop

The Sixers were thumped by Boston in game one of their playoff series, and Ben Simmons is starting to feel the heat.

Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons makes a pass around Boston’s Jayson Tatum

Complications have arisen. Ben Simmons is under immense pressure as Boston Celtics supporters sledge him about his controversial rookie status. When he was standing at the free throw line during his anxious, error-strewn and unsuccessful appearance for the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden yesterday, the Celtics faithful baited him by chanting, “Not a rookie! Not a rookie!”.

The Sixers were thumped 117-101 in the first game of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-finals. Aron Baynes started for the Celtics and did a typically serviceable if unspectacular job.

“It’s a long series,” Simmons said after conceding four turnovers and throwing a pass over the sideline amid a string of blunders in his most ineffective game for a long while. “We have time to correct our mistakes. We know what our mistakes are, that’s the frustrating part. Having six days between matches wasn’t the best thing for us. It’s good that we took a loss now rather than later.”

The heckling of Simmons came amid debate in the US over whether he or Utah’s Donovan Mitchell should receive the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award. Simmons was the No 1 draft pick two years ago before a foot injury forced him out of an entire season. Mitchell has been phenomenal for the Jazz in his first year.

When Simmons was asked recently who should get the ROY, he replied: “Who would I pick? Me, 100 per cent.” Invited to name any other rookies who had grabbed his attention, Simmons deadpanned, “None.”

Mitchell was offended. He arrived at a Jazz match in a hoodie that made it clear he thought Simmons was not a true rookie. The front of his jacket read: “Rookie (rook-ee). noun. An athlete, playing his or her first season as a member of a professional sports team.”

Mitchell said Simmons had benefited from having a year in the 76ers system while he recuperated from injury, learned the ropes of the NBA and worked on his skillset.

Mitchell said: “I’ll put it in perspective for people who obviously don’t play in the NBA and don’t know the life of the NBA.

“So, let’s say you have an exam to take on June 1 and you have a whole year to study for that exam, you’re going to get a pretty good grade on it, aren’t you? But some people may not have all that time to prepare for that exam.

“So, that’s how I look at it. But I really don’t care. If I’m worrying about individual awards, I’m giving up on my teammates and what we’re trying to build here. Clearly I’m not the one losing sleep over this. I don’t care.”

Simmons said: “He’s a great player. If I wasn’t a rookie this year, he would’ve definitely had it. But I’m not, so ...”

Golden State’s Draymond Green is among those who believe Simmons benefited enormously from his delayed start. Celtics fans honed in on the issue when Simmons was booed with his first touch of the ball in yesterday’s defeat and then he was heckled whenever he took a free throw.

It continued when Celtics first-year player Jayson Tatum, who overshadowed Simmons yesterday with 28 points, took a couple of free throws of his own. Another chant began. “He’s a rookie! He’s a rookie!’’

Mitchell seemed to spend most of the night re-posting and liking the chants on social media.

Voting for the ROY closed at the end of the regular season. Simmons seems certain to get the nod. But yesterday was a disaster. He was walking up the tunnel before the full-time whistle after recording seven rebounds, six assists and 18 points without having any semblance of dominance.

One of Philly’s favourite sons, Hollywood actor Will Smith, had released a video hyping up the game and calling Simmons the new “Fresh Prince” but the Sixers lacked rhythm and flow.

Smith’s video had highlights of the underdog Philadelphia Eagles winning this year’s Super Bowl along with snippets of the 76ers’ season. “Can you feel that?” Smith says in his clip. “That’s the rumble of another parade on Broad Street.”

Not yet. Game two in the Eastern conference semi-finals is on Friday morning (AEST).

“This isn’t who we are,” 76ers coach Brett Brown told his post-match media conference. “This was a very poor game from us.

“I give the Celtics a lot of credit for producing that but this isn’t who we are. We’ve won 20 of our last 21 games before tonight. To view tonight as a reflection of who we are would be a mistake.”