Star ahead Ben Simmons will miss his third straight sport with left knee soreness when the Nets journey to Boston to face the Celtics on Wednesday.
It marks the second occasion Simmons’ left knee has flared up within the second sport of a back-to-back this season.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn mentioned on Monday he was hopeful each Simmons and T.J. Warren would clear their accidents in time for Wednesday’s matchup in opposition to the league-best Celtics.
Warren will even miss his third straight sport after struggling a left shin contusion in opposition to the Pistons the identical evening Simmons left early.
”Hopefully they’re prepared for Wednesday,” Vaughn mentioned forward of tipoff in opposition to the Lakers on Monday. “Both not going tonight so both showing signs of progress, which is good. Hopeful for Wednesday.”
Simmons pulled himself out of Brooklyn’s Jan. 26 loss to the Detroit Pistons after getting poked within the eye by Pistons rookie Jaden Ivey.
The Nets later dominated him out for the rest of the sport with left knee soreness, and he has not performed since. The earlier evening, he performed 29 minutes in Brooklyn’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and sat virtually your complete fourth quarter.
Vaughn mentioned Simmons’ absence is “purely” because of the knee and never associated to the shot he took to the face in opposition to the Pistons.
”The aim in my eyes is for everybody to play each sport and to do what’s essential to be ready to play each sport,” Vaughn mentioned after the loss to Detroit. “There’s a certain number of minutes that each individual played in Philly. Some played equally tonight. So the preparation that it takes going into that, you just have to give credit to the guys who were prepared to play, ready to play and did what was necessary to get their bodies ready to play.”
Simmons has mentioned in a couple of event his knee and again points are related.
Simmons obtained an epidural to assist alleviate the ache from a herniated disk in his decrease again final March. After deciding he was unable to play in Brooklyn’s first-round playoff collection in opposition to the Celtics, he underwent offseason again surgical procedure.
He additionally missed an prolonged time frame resulting from a nerve impingement in 2020.
Simmons suffered a lateral left calf pressure in a Nov. 28 matchup in opposition to the Orlando Magic. It was additionally the second sport of a back-to-back after he tallied 12 rebounds, eight assists and three steals in near 34 minutes in opposition to the Portland Trail Blazers the earlier evening.
That damage stored him out for 4 video games. He will miss his third straight on Wednesday and may have appeared in 37 of the Nets’ 51 video games.
Vaughn mentioned his conversations with Simmons have been “based around getting him back to healthy, to an ability to play as soon as possible.” He mentioned the aim is to get Simmons obtainable to play in back-to-backs this season. The Nets have 4 extra units of two video games in two nights this season.
”I believe I mentioned earlier than and I don’t wish to draw back from it. The sort of individual I’m and coach: I need each man obtainable for each single sport. That is the aim of this group. That’s each single participant from one by 17 till I’m advised in any other case,” he mentioned. “I think our conversations will be real and what can we handle from a management and load perspective, cumulative loads across the board over the course of games. So all those questions will be on the table in order for us to keep our group healthy and whole as we trend toward the end of the year.”
Compounding issues for the Nets is Kevin Durant’s prolonged absence.
Durant missed his tenth straight sport on Monday after struggling an MCL sprain in a Jan. 8 victory over the Miami Heat.
The Nets are 4-6 in video games Durant has missed with this damage. With Simmons out on Wednesday, he’ll solely have appeared in 5 of the 11 video games the group has performed with out Durant.
A pocket of followers who arrived early to Barclays Center forward of tipoff in opposition to the Lakers booed the Jumbotron whereas Simmons launched himself on-screen in a prerecorded set known as “Meet the Nets.”
Simmons is averaging 7.4 factors, 6.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 27 minutes per sport this season. In his 4 prior seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, he averaged 15.9 factors, 8.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals per sport.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com