Ben Simmons has been ramping back up, and supposedly he’s going to be ready to go for Monday’s Game 4 between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics.
But if he’s pretty much ready now, why wait for Game 4 instead of Game 3?
Simmons has yet to play in a single game this season. He refused to play with the Philadelphia 76ers, then has been dealing with a back injury that has kept him from playing since his February arrival in Brooklyn.
But the Nets are down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, with Game 3 set for Saturday. And while they could use the addition of Simmons as soon as possible, The Athletic’s Shams Charania explained Thursday on the "Rich Eisen Show” why the Nets are waiting for Monday.
“I think just allowing him to have even more opportunity to get practice time in. This is a guy who hasn’t played in almost a year, June 2021," Charania explained. "For him to be thrown out there, of course you want to make sure he’s rolling on all cylinders as possible. He’s done a couple days of full court scrimmaging this week, I’ve heard he’s come out well from both. He’s feeling good, so as long as that progress continues, (Friday) the Nets are expected to practice, the assumption is that would be another opportunity for Ben Simmons to have a scrimmage day.
“Then you have three scrimmages under your belt – Monday, Wednesday, Friday – use the weekend to continue to ramp up, get treatment and make your debut on Monday. I think that is the expectation around the Nets, the expectation around Ben Simmons, that he will be out there Monday.
“The question is does he come off the bench, is there a minutes limit? I think what the Warriors are doing now with Steph Curry bringing him back from an injury, where Steph Curry has been vocal about that he is going to be dealing with some discomfort, he’s playing through that, but he wants to play in the playoffs. So, he’s playing on a minutes restriction coming off the bench. I would expect that could be a model for the Nets if they want to save Ben Simmons for the final four-to-six minutes of each quarter, have him come off the bench. These are all conversations I expect to take place over the next few days.”
Considering he hasn’t played a game this season and this will be his first game action with Brooklyn, expectations should very much be tempered for Simmons. However, if he can bring his elite defensive ability to the Nets right away, it might give them a better chance against Boston.
They just need to hope they aren’t down 3-0 by the time he returns.
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