It was quite a week for Sixers rookie Ben Simmons. Last Monday, he faced off against his natural comparison LeBron James, who told Simmons that he "has the opportunity to be better than me." Of course, James went out and put up 30 points and 14 rebounds against Simmons. But that was the first of four games for Simmons and the Sixers against four of the top teams in the East, including three of the teams with the best records (Boston, Cleveland and Detroit), plus a road game in Washington.

MORE: Ben Simmons named Eastern conference rookie of the month

For Simmons, the games were uneven, highlighted by a 31-point, 18-rebound performance against Washington that had the Wizards hacking Simmons to get him to the free throw line. He was quiet in the other three games, though, scoring only 10 against Cleveland and 15 against Boston. He had five points against Detroit in a game dominated by Joel Embiid, but had 10 rebounds and six assists.

"We were trying to contain him the best way that I could," Celtics forward Al Horford said. "I think that our guys, it’s not one-on-one against him. It’s almost like the whole team has to show a wall, because one-on-one he is going to expose you. So I think the guys did a good job behind me of loading up and making it tough on him. I tried to contest all his shots the best I could, but he is a great player."

After the week was over, Sporting News talked with an Eastern Conference scout about Simmons, picking out plays from each of the four games Simmons played last week that show how highly skilled he already is — and how much he should improve in the future.

Nov. 27 vs. Cleveland (9:36 to play, first quarter)

The play: Eager to have a good showing against the young player to whom he’s most often compared, LeBron James comes out aggressively against Simmons, attacking the basket twice for layups. On this play, he set Simmons up in an uncomfortable situation — guarding the roll man in the pick-and-roll. James picks J.J. Redick, who is guarding Cavs guard Jose Calderon, and Redick fights through the screen. But Simmons leaves too much room for James going to the basket.

The result: James gets a step on Simmons and is fed by a nifty bounce pass from Calderon. James completes the layup, part of a 10-shot, 15-point first quarter for James.

Scout’s view: "I think people are overrating his defense based on his physical gifts. He has good defensive instincts and he is able to deflect a lot balls because of his length. But he is young, he is learning and the net result is he is probably an average defender, with the potential to be great.

"He gets caught out of position a lot, you saw that a lot against Cleveland. And more teams should try to get him into the pick-and-roll as a defender. He can swallow up ball handlers, but make him defend the roll man."

Nov. 29 vs. Washington (4:25 to play, third quarter)

The play: Simmons takes a pass on the high weak side, just above the 3-point line. He is guarded by Kelly Oubre, but Oubre is picked by Sixers big man Amir Johnson. Simmons moves to the right elbow, the Wizards switching center Ian Mahinmi onto him. The Wizards only briefly show a double-team.

The result: Simmons spins on Mahinmi to get to the low right block, collects himself and drop-steps around Mahinmi to the baseline for a two-handed dunk.

Scout’s view: "You can’t leave a big man on an island against him. Not a slow guy like Mahinmi. He is way too quick and agile with the ball in his hands. You need a picket-fence type of defense, so that you are giving him size every time he penetrates.

"He has a gift when it comes to post-up moves, an instinct. A lot of young big guys, you spend a couple of years to teach them the moves and counter moves he has in the post. Whatever happens with his perimeter game, he is going to be an effective player just for how he handles his footwork."

Nov. 30 at Boston (10:03 to play, first quarter)

The play: Simmons is being guarded by Jaylen Brown at the top of the 3-point arc. He backs into Brown dribbling with his left hand, spins with his right around Brown to the right elbow. He steps in and, off one foot, goes into a running right-handed hook shot, a rarely seen shot in the modern NBA.

The result: Simmons makes the shot. Simmons almost never shoots from outside the paint, but he has developed a range of unorthodox ways to get off his shots.

Scout’s view: "He has a little Antawn Jamison in his game, where he is comfortable taking shots that are a little funky, a little bit of a throwback to Oscar Robertson or Elgin Baylor. He is going to have to figure out how to shoot 16-footers, how to shoot 3s, we all know that.

"But he has such a good, junky game in the paint that he will always be able to get his 18-20 points with those shots."

Nov. 30 at Boston (5:55 to play, third quarter)

The play: Simmons, guarded by Brown (who is 6-7), skips a screen on drives to his right to the elbow. He is immediately picked up closely in the paint by 6-10 Al Horford. Simmons attempts to drive into Horford, who holds his ground and forces Simmons into a contested fallaway.

The result: Simmons missed the shot, and was mostly quiet against Boston despite the absence of Joel Embiid in the lineup — Simmons had 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Throughout the game, the Celtics continually swallowed Simmons up with bigger defenders.

Scout’s view: "When you talk about a 'picket fence,' look at what the Celtics did with Simmons. He had a big, long guy defending him to start, then when he got inside, he would be passed to a bigger, longer guy. It got harder for him as he got closer to the basket.

"It is harder to do that when Embiid is playing, but that is how you want to play Simmons now, at least until he learn to hit perimeter shots."

Dec. 2 vs. Pistons (11:30 to play, first quarter)

The play: After a layup by Avery Bradley, the Pistons defense gets back to set up on the other end. Simmons takes the out-of-bounds pass, takes one dribble and flips a 30-foot pass to Dario Saric on the right side, just past halfcourt. Saric takes one dribble, goes into a pick for Redick, who gives Saric a bounce pass for an open layup.

The result: Saric finishes the layup. The whole play takes five seconds. Redick gets the assist, but Simmons’ initial pass made the play possible.

Scout’s view: "Simmons always has his head up. He can make 50-foot passes with pretty good precision. He gets them into your defense before you have time to get set, and that keeps so many teams off-balance. The Cavs picked him up full-court or three-quarters at times, I think that is something teams need to look at when defending them.

"[Sixers coach] Brett [Brown] always wants to play with pace, but they’re playing with pace and efficiency now. They’re not a great fast-break team yet, but you will see them improve that as the year goes on, and that will start with Simmons."

Dec. 2 vs. Pistons (9:45 to play, second quarter)

The play: Simmons is being guarded by Pistons forward Anthony Tolliver well above the 3-point line. The Sixers set up a double-screen above the free throw line, with Robert Covington and Joel Embiid picking Tolliver and Luke Kennard. Simmons gets by that crowd and the next level of defense is Langston Galloway on the right side of the key and Andre Drummond in the middle. Galloway only flashed to the paint, then scurried back to his man to guard against a kick-out. That left Drummond alone against Simmons.

The result: Galloway’s half-contest left the right side of the lane open for Simmons, and Drummond was out of position to cut off Simmons’ momentum — he was too far back in the paint and too far away from the elbow. Simmons was already going downhill by the time Drummond got to him, and Simmons finished an easy floater.

Scout’s view: "That is how to not run a picket-fence defense. You can’t be too far off of him. You want to dare him to shoot from the midrange, but you have to meet him right after the screen, because once he gets moving, with his quickness and creativity and length, you’re not going to slow him down.

"You can see where Drummond is and he just has no chance to recover against an athlete like him. By the time Drummond gets there, his feet are on the ground and Simmons is at the peak of his leap."