Ben Simmons rediscovering his stride in Nets bench role

Ben Simmons is still getting used to playing with his Nets teammates, and they’re getting used to running with him.

But as he settled into his role of leading the second unit, they’re starting to show signs of long-delayed progress.

And his 12-assist performance off the bench in Monday’s come-from-behind win in New Orleans was the clearest sign yet.

“It was impressive, especially the way he was just finding everybody,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “And the guys right now, they’re getting used to playing with him. If you’re with him, you’ve got to be ready to shoot. Like, Noah [Clowney] caught the ball in the corner and found himself inside the 3-point line. He didn’t have his feet ready.

“He said, ‘It’s my fault, my fault. I’ve gotta be positioned better.’ And that was great. You have those 10 assists in the first half, ended up with 12, which is a great number. And we needed that. [Saturday in Cleveland] we were missing his playmaking, ballhandling, big body on both ends, also defensively. So it was great to have him back.”

The Nets didn’t really get used to playing with Simmons last season because of his persistent back woes, and the roster got reshuffled over the summer.

Then Simmons was pressed into playing center due to Nic Claxton’s absence in the preseason and minutes limit early in the regular season.

But so far, Fernandez has avoided the elephant in the room, spacing concerns of having non-shooters Simmons and Claxton in the lineup together.

Since Claxton returned to the starting lineup on Nov. 4, Simmons has settled into a reserve role mostly backing up point guard Dennis Schroder. And the return to his natural position has clearly helped.

“Having Ben, it’s going to be great, because I believe that if we have Ben in the Cleveland game we win the game. That’s obvious,” Fernandez said. “We have a ball handler, a player that’s been there, a player that plays fast. We stopped running in the second half and Ben is the best at throwing the ball ahead and making us run. So it’s good to have him back, for sure. He’s going to help with those things.”

Despite his 6-foot-10, 240-pound frame, Simmons isn’t a center.

Both the eye test and advanced stats (minus-7.8 Net Rating, four fouls) showed that.

But coming off the bench primarily at backup point guard, he had a plus-2.2 Net Rating, averaged half as many fouls and sparked the attack with bounce passes and quick pushes upcourt.

His assists against Monday in New Orleans were his season high, and half of the team total for the night. He added six points, five rebounds and two steals.

“Yeah, it’s just getting easier and easier the more we play with each other,” Simmons said. “I expect guys to hit shots when they’re open and when they’re in their spots. So the more we play with each other, the easier it will get, and the better rhythm we’ll get into.”

Simmons had 10 assists in a turnover-free first half on Monday. He joined Domantas Sabonis as the only players with double-digit assists and no turnovers in a half this season, before he slowed down in the second half.

“I was cramping a little, so that’s on me to handle that and take care of that. So that slowed me down a little bit, but I was able to still find my guys and make plays,” said Simmons, who vowed he’d be fine for Wednesday’s rematch against visiting Boston. “Yeah, I’ll be great. I’ll be there.”

The Nets had a fourth-quarter lead over the defending champion Celtics Friday at TD Garden before falling in overtime. Wednesday will be another chance for him to mesh with the second unit, especially Clowney.

“That’s huge,” Simmons said. “It’s just different looks. I’ve played with a few stretch fours, or stretch fives. So, I kind of understand how that is going to look. Then going in with Clax, we’ve just got to figure that out. But just more reps, it’s going to be easier. So we’re going to figure it out.”