Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons records 10th triple-double

In a Philadelphia 76ers win that ended up being a lot closer than anyone would have liked, Ben Simmons recorded his 10th triple-double of the season.

Well Philadelphia 76ers fans, that was a close one.

After going ahead by as many as 29 points in the first three quarters, Brett Brown‘s squad saw their lead drop to single digits after emptying his bench at the beginning of the fourth, and actually had to reinsert the vast majority of his starters back into the game to secure a victory over Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

And while this was obviously a troubling sight after the team blew out the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic by commanding margins in their two previous games, the real story to come out the Sixers 120-108 victory over Tom Tibbadough‘s squad was the continued dominance of rookie ball handler Ben Simmons.

Simply put, Simmons continued to make plays on both the offensive and defensive side of the court and was rewarded for his efforts with his 10th triple-double of the season, the most of any 76ers rookie in franchise history.

How many triple-doubles Donovan Mitchell have? Oh yeah, zero.

While that obviously doesn’t matter in the long run, it is incredibly telling that Simmons has 10 more triple-doubles than Mitchell has double-doubles, and with only nine more Utah Jazz games left to play this season, it’s safe to assume that that record will stand. If that isn’t enough to win Simmons the 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year, then I don’t know what is.

And the best part? It doesn’t look like Simmons is going to slow down anytime soon.

Over the last seven games, Simmons has recorded five triple-doubles, while averaging an incredible 12.7 points, 11.5 assists, and 10.4 rebounds per game and as we speak that is by far the best stat line of any rookie in the league over the time period. Honestly, to find another player who’s even come close to Simmons current stat line you have to go all the way back to 1960 when Oscar ‘The Big O’ Robertson recorded 26 triple-doubles in only 71 games as a rookie for the now-defunct Cincinnati Royals.

That’s pretty great company if you ask me.

Labeled the second coming of Magic Johnson by many talent evaluators going into the 2016 NBA Draft, Simmons has actually recorded three more triple-doubles than Johnson did in his 1979 rookie season, and at only 21 years old it’s worth wondering just how high the Fresh Prince’s ceiling could be.

Next: The Philadelphia 76ers are finally taking no prisoners

With the 76ers essentially a lock to make the postseason, the team has to be thrilled that Simons has essentially bypassed the rookie wall, and instead looks primed to lead his team to their first 50 win season since Allen Iverson and company accomplished the feat in 2000-2001. It kind of makes you wonder why some people wanted the team to draft Brandon Ingram first overall in the 2016 draft because Simmons ‘couldn’t shoot’.