Ben Simmons did literally everything in dominating his first playoff game

With a few minutes left in the third quarter of the 76ers’ blowout Game 1 win over the Heat, Ben Simmons crossed over Kelly Olynyk, dunked, then caught the ball with his legs. It was that kind of night for the presumptive Rookie of the Year, who had his way with his opponent virtually from the opening tip until he walked off the court at the final buzzer.

Simmons could do no wrong in Philly’s 130-103 rout on Saturday night. He was on triple double watch as early as the second quarter and finished his first-ever NBA playoff game with 17 points (on 5-of-13 shooting), 14 assists, nine rebounds and two steals.

Simmons was the best player on the court, and his performance reminded the world that he is, indeed, the second coming of LeBron James with shades of Magic Johnson. The Heat are one of the best defensive teams in the league, and they held him to a moderate shooting night. But the baskets Simmons got to fall made him look larger than life. That might just be because he is.

James Johnson didn’t have an answer for him:

Neither did the four Heat defenders in his vicinity on this play:

He even caught the defense snoozing, more than once, with passes like these:

Simmons’s night was full of highlights. Except for the shooting numbers, it went exactly how he could have imagined.

Simmons also dictated the pace, pushing a slow, methodical Miami Heat team to play at a much faster tempo than they’re accustomed to. Only the Nuggets scored more points against the Heat than Philly did on Saturday night, and Denver needed a double overtime to run the score up.

Simmons has been nothing short of incredible all season long, and his first playoff game went exactly like his regular season did. If his entire playoff stretch is going to look like this, there’s no telling how far Philly can go... especially when Joel Embiid returns.