At halftime, Monday’s Celtics-Bulls game didn’t seem like a remarkable one for Anfernee Simons.
Boston’s third guard had logged nine first-half minutes and, like most of his teammates, shot the ball poorly, missing all three 3-pointers he attempted. He’d held up well defensively — the Celtics were bludgeoning Chicago, 54-33, despite their offensive issues — but had zero points and zero assists.
Simons sat for the first six minutes of the second half, watching as Payton Pritchard padded Boston’s lead with a pair of threes and an and-one jumper.
Then, he checked in — and took over.
Simons played the final 18:08 of the Celtics’ 115-101 victory at TD Garden and poured in a season-high 27 points during that span, going 9-for-13 from the field and 8-for-11 from 3-point range.
It was the highest-scoring second half by a Boston bench player since the NBA began tracking play-by-play data in 1996-97, beating out a 26-point effort by Ricky Davis in 2004. His eight second-half threes tied the play-by-play-era NBA record shared by J.R. Smith, Michael Redd and Kelly Oubre Jr.
“He’s a hell of a ballplayer,” said Pritchard, who scored 21 in the win. “… He can play on any team with the way he can create for himself and create for others or play off the ball. He’s a complete ballplayer, and you guys see it every night.”
On this night, Boston needed Simons’ production.
During an eight-minute stretch between the third and fourth quarters, he scored 18 straight Celtics points. Later, he assisted on 3-pointers by Jaylen Brown and Derrick White — both of whom struggled to find their shot for most of the game — that helped stonewall a Chicago comeback bid. Simons then punctuated Boston’s fourth straight W by drilling a straightaway three with 55.4 seconds remaining.
“(I’m) just trying to find ways I can impact the game,” Simons said. “Obviously, I know I can come in and be aggressive and try to score the ball. Just the little things, whether it’s crashing the glass or guarding my man. I think it’s been fun, implementing myself into this culture that’s been set and the expectations that’s been set already, as well. It’s been fun. Obviously, almost halfway through the season, and I feel like I’ve grown so much in a lot of areas.”
It’s been a season of adjustments for the 26-year-old, whose role with Boston is substantially different than the one he played before his offseason trade. After starting every game he played over his final three-plus years with the Trail Blazers and serving as Portland’s primary offensive option, he’s had to adapt to life as a bench player and secondary scorer with the Celtics.
He’s also needed to up his performance on the defensive end — long viewed as a weakness in his game — to meet head coach Joe Mazzulla’s standards. Mazzulla seems to be pleased with his improvements there.
“You’ve seen there’s some games in that run that he’s been on (where) his stint has separated the game for us,” the coach said. “But where he’s really been the most consistent is the defensive end. The physicality on the defensive end, executing our schemes, executing our coverages, playing with the level of physicality — that’s where he’s been at his best. He just comes up every day, wants to work, wants to play hard, wants to win, so he’ll do what it takes.”
Simons’ defensive growth has been subtle — he isn’t a playmaker at that end, ranking last on the team in steals per 36 minutes and second-to-last in blocks per 36 — but evident in his efficiency metrics.
Over the 20 games he played in October and November, Simons posted an individual offensive rating of 116.0, a defensive rating of 116.2 and a net rating of -0.2. The Celtics outscored opponents by a total of seven points during his minutes, tied for ninth-best on the team.
But since the start of December, despite his scoring and shooting stats dipping slightly, Simons has a 130.1 offensive rating, a 108.1 defensive rating and a 22.0 net rating. He’s a plus-168 during that 15-game span, the best mark of any Celtics player (fellow bench standout Hugo Gonzalez is second at plus-137) and second-best in the NBA behind Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace (plus-172).
Simons’ efficiency differential — how much better the team is per 100 possessions with him on the court than off it, as calculated by Cleaning the Glass — has climbed to second-best on Boston’s roster, trailing only Gonzalez. It ranks in the 87th percentile among all NBA players.
Mazzulla said he’s “for sure” seen a difference in Simons’ defense and overall comfort level since the start of the season.
“But not because he wasn’t putting forth the effort,” he added. “Just having a better understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish from a schematic standpoint, which, once you understand the schematics, you can play even harder, which is kind of what you’re seeing.”
Simons has been viewed as a possible trade candidate since the day Boston acquired him in exchange for veteran guard Jrue Holiday, and the team still could look to move him and his $27.7 million contract ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. But lately, he’s looked like a player worth keeping as the Celtics continue to exceed expectations.
Monday’s win pushed the C’s into second place in the Eastern Conference. They’re 8-1 in their last nine games, with their bench — headlined of late by Simons, Gonzalez and backup center Luka Garza — excelling in nearly all of those wins.
“Just the attention to detail and the intensity that we know we play each and every night, that’s the standard that’s been set,” Simons said. “So I’ve been pretty pleased with myself. And then obviously the team, how much we’ve been taking on that challenge, it’s been showing.”