Ben Simmons, more than any other player in basketball, is judged for his flaws more than his strengths. He can’t shoot, and that obviously has enormous repercussions for the Philadelphia 76ers offensively. But when you can do what Simmons did tonight, you don’t need to shoot. 

Philadelphia trailed the Indiana Pacers by one point with only 14 seconds remaining on Saturday. They had been unable to slow the Pacers down all night, and with the ball in hand and a chance to push the lead to three or even a game-icing four, an Indiana win appeared to be a near certainty. And then, Simmons did this. 

The steal set up Tobias Harris for a dunk that gave the 76ers a one-point lead. Still, the Pacers had a chance to take the lead back after advancing the ball to the halfcourt line with a timeout. But they couldn’t even inbound the ball because of Simmons. 

Two steals in a row are rare, but can certainly happen. But three? In 14 seconds? That sounds impossible, right? Wrong. 

That final steal sealed the game for Philadelphia, keeping them undefeated at home with a 9-0 record. He finished the game with four steals in total to go along with a block, 15 points, 13 assists and six rebounds. Afterwards, Sixers head coach Brett Brown had some major praise for his point guard. 

“The plays that he can make from an athletic standpoint and the plays he can make from a physical standpoint [late] in the game, are just elite,” Brown said. “You hear me cheer-lead the cause of him being on an NBA All-Defensive team and it’s examples like that [late steal] that make it a no-brainer.” 

This is more or less the ideal Simmons game. Yes, he comes with one glaring weakness in his shooting. But what he can’t do doesn’t matter when the totality of what he can do comes to the forefront like this. Philadelphia won this game because Simmons did something no other player in the NBA can do. His ability to continue doing those things means much more to Philadelphia’s championship odds than his inability to shoot from behind the arc.