Over eight months had passed since Ben Simmons last appeared in a regular season game before the Brooklyn Nets' season opener Wednesday, a 114-113 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Much had been made of Simmons' improved health after he spent the layoff working through a rigorous rehab process. The former No. 1 pick's teammates and coaches raved about his improved explosiveness, and Simmons proclaimed his desire to return to the All-Star form of his Philadelphia days.

However, Simmons' 2023-24 debut was nothing to write home about. He looked hesitant offensively, scoring four points on 2-of-6 shooting to go with nine assists and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-1o point guard played effective defense on Donovan Mitchell early. Yet, when Brooklyn needed a stop to win the game, Simmons found himself on the bench.

After a pair of Mikal Bridges free throws put the Nets up one with 18 seconds remaining, the Cavs called timeout. Brooklyn broke its huddle and Simmons remained on the bench. Mitchell drove into Cam Johnson, stepped back and drained a three to win the game for Cleveland.

Simmons, who appeared in just 42 games last season while recovering from back surgery, played 23 minutes for the night and just two in the fourth quarter. He told reporters postgame that he wasn't on a minutes restriction, and when asked about his fourth-quarter benching, replied.

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“You gotta ask Coach [Jacque Vaughn], I don't know.”

Vaughn was asked about Simmons' limited minutes postgame and said he was trying to limit minutes across the board.

“You’ll see this year, our group, we’re going divide these minutes up throughout the course of the year. My intent was not to try to tire anyone out in the beginning of the game,” the coach said. “I didn’t even intend to play Mikal 35 minutes. But you’ll see our minutes kind of range across the board because we do have depth and versatility. So this won’t be the last time that happens.”

Brooklyn played 10 players during the loss. Mikal Bridges was the only Net to eclipse 30 minutes, a mark Vaughn said he doesn't anticipate his players reaching often.

“Our guys won’t play 30-plus a lot because of the fact that we have to play extremely hard and I don’t want them coasting,” he said. “So I do want them tired when I check them out of the game. That is gonna be the goal for us and let’s see if it works.”