Sixers’ Brett Brown praises Ben Simmons for being ‘amazingly unselfish’ in NBA playoffs series against Raptors

TORONTO — Ben Simmons’ lack of aggressiveness on offense has been a hot topic.

But 76ers coach Brett Brown wanted to focus on something else Tuesday morning, hours before facing the Toronto Raptors in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at Scotiabank Arena.

“I think that Ben has been amazingly unselfish in this series,” Brown said of his All-Star point guard.

He feels that way because Simmons has been assigned mostly to guard Raptors small forward Kawhi Leonard. That is a daunting task, as Leonard averaged 38 points through the first four games of the series.

Offensively, Simmons’ strength is in the open court, but those opportunities have been hard to come by, so he’s been off the ball more than he’s accustomed to. Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris have assumed a lot of ball-handling duties in middle pick-and-rolls.

“So, when you talk about sacrifice and worth, go to him first,” Brown said. “Go right to Ben Simmons first. I think he’s been great in the playoffs, defensively especially.”

The coach added that Simmons has been a great teammate.

However, Simmons appeared passive on offense in Sunday’s Game 4 loss, despite scoring 10 points on 5-for-10 shooting. Simmons passed up shots and rarely attacked the basket.

The Sixers want to take advantage of his athleticism.

“None of us want to take away from his brilliance and gifts in early offense, him in open court, on misses, especially,” Brown said.

The team will play Game 6 at 8 p.m., Thursday, at the Wells Fargo Center.