NBA: Ben Simmons likes the rough stuff while 76ers preaches calm

Ben Simmons is excited by the rough stuff but his coach has urged the 76ers to respond to Miami with intelligence.

Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons, left, shoots against Miami Heat in game two of their first-round NBA playoff series in Philadelphia. Picture: AP

Ben Simmons is excited by the rough stuff but his Philadelphia coach has urged the 76ers to respond to Miami’s physicality with intelligence.

The Heat increased their defensive intensity to level the first-round NBA playoffs series after being convincingly beaten in game one. The Sixers finished third in the Eastern Conference but were made to look vulnerable in the 113-103 loss in a possible psychological blow before the team travel to Miami for the first time this series for game three.

“It doesn’t have to be, like, macho versus macho,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “That’s not how we want to play. We want to have an intellectual response to physicality. It can mean speed. It can mean space. It can mean the technique of just creating a lead and getting open. You know, a simple jab-step and putting your arm in somebody’s chest.

“But it all equals fundamentals — poise, technique — that stuff, to comeback physicality.

“It’s not, they punch you, you punch them. In fact, that’s the last side of it I want to get into. There’s some of that, but it isn’t all that.”

The pressure appeared to get to the Sixers as they shot 41.7 per cent, down from their 47 per cent during the regular season.

Star Australian Simmons appear unaffected though, recording 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

He expressed a fondness for the extra attention.

“I think this is the first time where it’s been let go a little bit more, which has been good. I enjoy it,” Simmons said.

“I love competing against guys like that, who you know want to hit each other and knock each other down, which is good.”

Meanwhile, Boomers forward Joe Ingles only scored three points in the Utah Jazz’s 102-95 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but his teammates were full of praise for their Australian teammate.

They are used to Ingles doing the crucial, invisible things that are not recorded on a score sheet.

Ingles was schooled by Thunder All-Star Paul George in Sunday’s game one but he responded yesterday (AEST) with a defensive effort that kept George at just 18 points and scoreless in the decisive last quarter. “Joe has been the guy for us who does all of the dirty work,” Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell said. “Tonight he was locked in on the defensive end after Paul George had a great game one.

“The way he responded defensively in this game was very impressive.”

The Jazz’s game two win defied a venomous crowd at Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena and evens the best-of-seven first-round playoff series 1-1.

The Jazz have an opportunity to take control of the series with the next two games on their home court in Salt Lake City.

LeBron James crystallised his reputation as one of the best playoff performers in NBA history yesterday (AEST) as the Cleveland Cavaliers rebounded from a game-one rout with a 100-97 win over the Indiana Pacers.

James scored 20 of his 46 points in the opening quarter, getting off to a fast start in which he single-handedly outscored the Pacers 13-0 and 16-1 to start game two of the first round Eastern Conference series.

Agencies