Atlantic Notes: Simons, Porter Jr., Towns, Sixers Rebounding

Considered a clear-cut trade chip for a Celtics team expected to bottom out coming into the season, Anfernee Simons has instead emerged as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate on a team looking to cement itself as the league’s most unexpected contender, writes Gary Washburn for the Boston Globe.

Simons has always been a scorer, but there were questions coming into the year about how he could contribute to a winning team. Simons says he felt the weight of those questions and what it meant for how he approached his game.

“That’s the challenge, stepping into a new situation, new role and being able to come out and be successful — finding your success within the new role is asked of you,” Simons said. “You’ve got to change your thinking. You’re so programmed to think, if I don’t play well offensively, I didn’t have a good game. Now it’s changing, your mind-set. Coming into games you might not score as much but you played good defense, you made the right plays… You’ve got to be able to know that I did everything I could to help the team win in the time I was out there.”

As for Simons, he’s trying his best to focus on the on-court possibilities.

“I just want the opportunity to win,” he said. “Everyone wants to win a championship. But everybody might not be destined to win a championship, so you want yourself to be in the best position to win a championship. That’s all I want in my career, having no regrets wherever way it goes.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

• Michael Porter Jr. was not named to the 2026 All-Star reserves team for the Eastern Conference for the Nets. The numbers say he should have been, writes C.J. Holmes for the New York Daily News. Holmes notes that Porter is fifth in the East in scoring at 25.6 points per game, seventh in the NBA in made threes, and is tied for the 11th-most 30-point games this season. “It definitely would be a dream come true. It was in my mind as a kid to make the NBA, but not only be in the NBA but be one of the best players in the NBA. And an All-Star selection shows that progress,” Porter said back in December, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “But it’s definitely not what I’m thinking of. I’ve always tried to be more process-oriented and do the right things day to day, game to game, and let the results take care of itself.” With Giannis Antetokounmpo injured, the East will have at least one injury replacement named, meaning Porter Jr. will have another chance to be named to his first All-Star team.
• Karl-Anthony Towns was named to his sixth All-Star game on Sunday night, despite struggling with his offense this season. Knicks coach Mike Brown firmly believes the nod was well-deserved, writes Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. “He’s leading us in rebounds, he’s second in scoring,” Brown said. “I don’t know how many double-doubles he has, but that’s impactful when you’re talking about doing it in a winning situation… We should have, in my opinion, two or three guys, at least, on this All-Star team based on what our record is.” Towns leads the league in rebounding at 11.8 per game, including 3.1 offensive boards, coming into Sunday’s game against the Lakers.
• The Sixers posted the third-lowest rebound total in a game this season in Thursday’s win against the Kings, which only exemplified a season-long problem, Keith Pompey writes for The Inquirer. He writes that in the last 11 games, they’ve ranked last in the league in rebounding, partly stemming from the team going slightly smaller with Adem Bona getting the backup center minutes over Andre Drummond. With Joel Embiid averaging the fewest rebounds of his career at 7.5, Pompey writes that coach Nick Nurse is considering going back to Drummond at times, depending on the matchup.