Brooklyn Nets point guard Ben Simmons will return from a knee injury for Saturday's road matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. The three-time All-Star missed Wednesday's loss to the Phoenix Suns after injuring his knee during Monday's win over the Utah Jazz, his first game back from a three-month absence.
Simmons underwent an MRI that revealed swelling but no structural damage. He missed two extended periods last season due to the same knee, having blood drained and receiving PRP injections both times. Despite this, the Nets do not expect the knee ailment to affect his availability moving forward.
“That is not at all something that’s gonna linger,” head coach Jacque Vaughn said. “It's something that just acutely happened in the game and with a couple days of treatment, it responded. Hopefully, we continue down a path of playing… He was fully back from the time away [before the knee injury]. All inclination going forward is he’s available for games.”
Simmons turned in one of his best games as a Net during a 147-114 win versus the Utah Jazz, posting 12 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists and zero turnover in 18 minutes.
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— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 30, 2024
The Aussie played on a minutes restriction, which he will remain on against Philadelphia.
“He still has a restriction for tonight. I don’t have a timetable of when that will be lifted,” Vaughn said. “There will be a progression of minutes added on to it before it’s completely lifted. That’s just going to be how he responds from game to game.”
The Nets ranked second in the NBA in fastbreak points over Ben Simmons' seven appearances this season, averaging 21.5 per game. Without him, they rank 22nd, averaging 12.7 per game while posting the league's fifth-worst effective field goal percentage.
Day'Ron Sharpe injury update
Day'Ron Sharpe, who has been sidelined for nearly a month due to a hyperextended knee, has progressed to on-court workouts with contact against a coach. However, he has yet to play with multiple bodies around him.
“Day day did some more court work, but the scope of that court work was still no extra bodies around him,” Vaughn said. “He was able to bang with one of our coaches a little bit, so that he has progressed to, but nothing beyond that.”
Sharpe was in the midst of a breakout campaign after cracking Brooklyn's rotation during his third season. The 22-year-old has averaged 7.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 16.0 minutes per game this season, all career-highs.
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