News is expected Wednesday regarding Ben Simmons’ status.
The oft-injured former All-Star has been out since Nov. 6 with a nerve impingement in his lower back.
There was initially supposed to be a status update on Simmons over the weekend, but coach Jacque Vaughn said the team wouldn’t have any new information on the forward until it returned home following the recent five-game road trip that ended Monday night with a loss to the Jazz.
Simmons has received an epidural shot and is in the process of getting back on the court, Vaughn said.
In terms of a return timetable, that remains uncertain.
The Nets ruled him out of Wednesday’s game against the Knicks at Barclays Center.
The 27-year-old Simmons has appeared in just six games this season, averaging 6.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 31.8 minutes.
This is, unfortunately, not new for Simmons.
He has played in only 48 games with the Nets and has missed 87 of the 135 the team has played since acquiring him Feb. 10, 2022 in the James Harden trade.
Leading scorer Mikal Bridges is in a shooting rut. On the five-game road trip, during which the Nets went 1-4, he shot 35.6 percent from the field while averaging 16.6 points.
Bridges shot the 3-ball well, hitting 43.7 percent of his attempts on the trip.
He was hard on himself for his performance in the loss to the Jazz, when he was held to 13 points on 4 of 16 shooting and was minus-19 in his 35 minutes.
“Pretty much just out there and letting my teammates down, coaches down, playing five-on-four out there, basically, while I’m out there,” Bridges said. “So I just gotta be better and I won’t let that happen again.”
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