In his first ever playoff series, Ben Simmons was a dominant presence on the court against the Miami Heat in the opening round and wasn't fazed by the moment.

He was a huge reason why the Philadelphia 76ers advanced to round two as they overcame the Heat in five games.

Simmons was a Swiss Army Knife on the floor as usual as he was big on both ends of the floor and always a triple-double threat.

In their Eastern Conference semi-final matchup with the Boston Celtics, however, the Aussie hasn't found things quite so easy.

The Sixers trail the Celtics 3-0 and the 21-year-old has experienced some real struggles on the offensive end against one of the best defensive teams in the league.

In game two, he scored just one point and failed to register a single field goal for the first time in his career as he was held to 0-of-4 shooting.

For all the talent Simmons has undoubtedly got, there is one glaring weakness in his game as he lacks a jump shot.

Boston has focused in on this and is taking away his drives to the basket and daring him to take jumpers which he's not confident in doing.

This has completely taken him out of his natural game and it's one of the main reasons why he's been unable to affect the series in the way he did against Miami.

NBA legend Kobe Bryant has been paying close attention to this year's playoffs and in a recent interview, he advised the 76ers rookie to start from scratch with his jump shot.

"Just aesthetically I would say build that thing anew (laughs). I don't think the game came down to that though," Bryant said in an appearance on the Chris and Caron show on Fox Sports Radio.

The point guard has so much to his game at such a young age and has a high basketball IQ but this is an area of his game he must improve to get better, particularly in this current era where the three-point shot is such a key component.

Simmons hasn't attempted a single triple all season and it's made it easy for an elite defence like the Celtics to guard him and make life difficult.

With stars like DeMar DeRozan and Gordon Hayward working with Kobe to improve their game in the past and Giannis Antetokounmpo hoping to do the same this summer, spending time with the Black Mamba may be an option worth exploring for Simmons too.

Listen HERE to episode two of the new GiveMeSport NBA podcast, featuring New York Times senior writer Marc Stein.

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