Ben Simmons, visibly happy after returning from injury, believes the Nets have the potential to be a solid team and wants to continue to be a part of it.
“If you do everything you’re supposed to do, you’ll be in really good shape,” Simmons said. “But it takes time and focus and dedication from the front office to the last player on the bench to the training staff to the coaches. So this is a team effort and if we all agree we can achieve our goals.” It can be achieved.”
Simmons, sidelined since Nov. 6 with a compressed nerve in his lower back, made his return and sparked Monday’s 147-114 rout of Utah.
Simmons finished with 10 points, 11 assists, eight boards and a plus-27 mark with no turnovers in just 18 minutes, 14 seconds.
He is listed as likely to play Wednesday night against Phoenix due to a left knee contusion after taking an awkward fall on the final play.
The Nets, who have seen Simmons miss 38 consecutive games this season and are on the hook for $37.9 million remaining this season and another $40.3 million, don’t want another health issue.
But Simmons praised their support.
“This is great because it’s probably one of the best teams I’ve ever been on in terms of camaraderie. Everybody gets along, there’s no egos on the team, the players want to win, they want to compete. I want to,” Simmons said. “So it’s great for me to be able to put myself in an environment like this. I get to work with a lot of friends who want to get better and compete. So I’m happy. .”
Simmons, who has dealt with mental health issues in the past and has been seeing a therapist, appeared beaming after returning to health on Monday.
He clearly enjoyed being on the court, sporting a Cheshire Cat grin.
When he left the court after the play, he ran straight toward general manager Sean Marks with a smile on his face.
“Ben doesn’t want to get hurt. He didn’t want to get hurt,” said coach Jacques Vaughn, who visited Simmons in Florida multiple times during his offseason rehab. “He was playing good basketball with this team at the beginning of the year. And there were a lot of close games at the beginning of the year.
“That’s why he wants to play. I want to say to the world, to anyone, ‘He wants to play.’ He wants to play here. He has the ability to influence the team.”
Brooklyn has strengthened its leaky defense since switching from drop coverage back to switching against Oklahoma City on Jan. 5.
Since then, the Nets have posted the sixth-best defensive rating and ninth-best net rating in the league.
The Nets have split over the last six games, with Cam Thomas averaging 25.7 points and 3 assists on 55.2/43.3/87.5 shooting and Mikal Bridges averaging 25.3 points and 3.8 assists on 50.0/44.8 shooting. /72.7).
Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain), Dayron Sharpe (left knee hyperextension), Darik Whitehead (left shin stress reaction), Noah Clowney (G League) and Keon Johnson (G League) against Phoenix. Miss you.
