Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons will undergo an MRI on Sunday after he re-aggravated a lower back injury in the Sixers' match against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.
Philadelphia's Ben Simmons will undergo an MRI on his lower back on Sunday, league source tells ESPN. He was definitely in some pain tonight after game vs. Bucks.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 23, 2020
The Sixers understandably want to make sure nothing is wrong with their star point guard. Back injuries could be tricky as they have a tendency to linger over time.
Simmons left the game early in the first quarter after getting fouled on a drive by Bucks center Brook Lopez. The former first overall pick finished with five points in four minutes.
The 23-year-old All-Star sat out Philadelphia's Thursday contest against the Brooklyn Nets due to lower back tightness. The Sixers tagged him as questionable entering Saturday night, but obviously, Simmons tried to give it a go. Unfortunately, doing so may have worsened his already ailing back.
Philadelphia certainly missed Simmons' playmaking and defense, as the Bucks blew them out of the building 119-98.
Despite questions of fit alongside star center Joel Embiid, Simmons is very much an integral piece in Philly's title aspirations. The Sixers offense runs mostly through Simmons, who also takes it upon himself to guard the opposing team's best perimeter player.
This is definitely a bummer for the Sixers. Possibly losing Ben Simmons for perhaps a number of games at this point of the season won't help their chances to salvage a rather disappointing 2019-20 campaign so far.
Philadelphia has not lived up to their lofty expectations as title contenders. They currently sit at fifth in the Eastern Conference and are 1.5 games behind the no.4 seed Miami Heat.
Nonetheless, a team with as much talent as Philadelphia has cannot be counted out for the playoffs. However, they will definitely need Simmons at full strength if they want to make a deep postseason run. Otherwise, an early exit could possibly stir up major changes this coming summer.
Follow Us
Subscribe