Nets star Ben Simmons will miss at the very least the subsequent three video games with what the staff is looking a left lateral higher calf pressure.
He might be reassessed after Sunday’s matchup towards the Boston Celtics, after which the Nets have two off days earlier than internet hosting the Charlotte Hornets the next Wednesday.
Simmons left Monday’s matchup towards the Orlando Magic on the high of the second quarter with what the staff referred to as soreness in his left knee. It’s the identical knee that endured swelling at the start of November. Simmons finally had fluid drained from the knee and missed three video games earlier than returning to the court docket.
“It’s the knee but the back of the knee,” head coach Jacque Vaughn mentioned on Wednesday. “You know, he was grabbing his knee during the game and said he needs to come out. It end up being the back of the knee. So it’s the upper part of the calf. Which ended up being diagnosed after we took some imaging.”
Vaughn mentioned the Nets aren’t but ruling Simmons out for all video games on the second leg of a back-to-back this season, however additionally they aren’t taking that kind of load administration off the desk. The staff isn’t precisely positive how Simmons’ knee/calf flared up within the first place.
“I don’t know if we can pinpoint and say it was one thing or another. [It was an] acute injury,” Vaughn mentioned. “Could it have been accumulation of video games? We had 5 [games] in seven [nights]. That might have positively contributed to it. He doesn’t bear in mind a particular occasion that occurred within the recreation. So I believe it’s on us to be good when he does come again.
“Does that mean minute restriction? Maybe so. Does that mean not playing back to backs? Maybe so. Nothing is out of the realm of considering what’s best for the team, which we’ll always consider, but we want each individual to be available to play every single game. That’s the goal.”
Simmons’ damage got here enjoying the second recreation of a back-to-back after logging 34 minutes within the win towards the Portland Trail Blazers. Vaughn mentioned the damage was as a result of load Simmons is being requested to hold after lacking the whole 2021-22 NBA season, then getting offseason again surgical procedure.
“He hasn’t had this amount of accumulation of games over a period of a long time,” Vaughn mentioned after the Magic recreation. “Talked to the performance team about that. We were warned about that just as these games start to add up. His cumulative load as that begins to add up, it’s really stretching him sometimes the amount of games we’ve just had with the minutes that he’s played pretty high going into tonight’s game.”
The setback comes at an inopportune second for each the Nets and Simmons, who had turned a nook in his again rehab and strung collectively simply his greatest stretch of basketball in a Nets jersey.
Simmons strung collectively 5 consecutive double-digit scoring video games, together with two video games with 20 or extra and two near-triple doubles, coming into the back-to-back. In Game 1, Simmons completed with 12 rebounds, eight assists and three steals in 34 minutes towards the Trail Blazers. In Game 2, his knee flared up three minutes into the second quarter.
The Nets are 7-4 in video games Simmons has performed since coming back from his first bout with swelling in his knee.
Vaughn mentioned Simmons is in good spirits and that he spoke to his star ahead for about quarter-hour earlier than chatting with reporters on Monday.
“We talked about now what happens through this process over the next three games that you’re not playing,” Vaughn mentioned. “And my reiteration of the consistency and the habits in between this time of treatment, recovery, staying locked into your teammates, continue to converse with me what we’re doing well, what we’re not doing well.”
WATANABE OUT ANOTHER WEEK
The Nets may also be with out reserve ahead Yuta Watanabe for an additional week.
Watanabe, who had been out because the Nov. 20 win over the Memphis Grizzlies with a strained proper hamstring, had an MRI on his hamstring on Monday. The outcomes had been in step with the outcomes of his earlier MRI.
He remains to be feeling some stage of discomfort in his hamstring and might be reassessed in per week, the staff introduced.
The Nets are reportedly anticipated to welcome veteran ahead TJ Warren into the rotation Friday towards the Toronto Raptors. Warren hasn’t performed within the final two seasons because of consecutive stress fractures in his left foot.
The final time he performed, he averaged 27 factors per recreation for the Indiana Pacers throughout a brief stint within the Orlando Bubble.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com