Ben Simmons is broken

Here’s all you need to know about the last few years of Philadelphia 76ers basketball: Down two with three minutes left in a Game 7, Ben Simmons passed up a wide-open dunk, seemingly to avoid the possibility of being fouled.

He dumped it to Matisse Thybulle, who made one out of two free throws. That sounds like a bad outcome on a play that should have ended with a no-doubt dunk, but consider that Simmons was shooting 33% from the line in these playoffs.

Simmons, after getting consoled by Joel Embiid, took it to the rack two possessions later, seemingly in an attempt to get over his mental block. He made one of two free throws and was benched shortly after. They were the only free throws he attempted in the entire game, and the Hawks eliminated the Sixers, 103-96. Trae Young attempted to hoist as many bricks as he could, going 5-of-23 from the field. But there is only one Ben Simmons, and you can’t shoot more poorly than he does.