PORTLAND — Tuesday night's Nets game in Portland will have a lot of implications for the lottery. And they approach it shortsightedly.
Leading scorer Cam Thomas and backup forward Trendon Watford are both out, while point guard D'Angelo Russell and winger Cam Johnson are listed as doubtful.
Russell missed four consecutive games with a right shin contusion. Johnson suffered a sprained right ankle in the final seconds of a Jan. 2 win at Milwaukee, missing his fifth straight game.
The Nets haven't won since he got hurt.
Simmons is almost certain to miss one of the next two. He has not yet been cleared to play on either end of the back-to-back, and Brooklyn is also scheduled to play against the Clippers on Wednesday.
Simmons returned from a four-game injury absence against Denver and had 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds, then had 14 points, nine assists and six boards against Utah on Sunday. He played 31 minutes and 38 seconds, exceeding the time limit, and eventually came on in the second half of overtime.
“Ben was crazy the whole game, as you can see. [stats] …It's a very, very good line. We need this type of Ben: aggressive, goalscoring, very efficient,” said coach Jordi Fernandes. “But what I liked most was that he engaged with his teammates, talked to his teammates and told them what to do. And that was very good.
“I'm not going to give it up. [the minutes limit]but we felt his body was the most important thing. And that doesn't just apply to Ben, it applies to others as well. And if I feel like there's some kind of risk, I'm not going to take it. we know where we are. …So, again, I'm not going to take any chances with Ben or anyone else. Their health and body are of the utmost importance to us. ”
Asked if he was likely to play on Tuesday and sit Wednesday to give Russell's shin an extra day to recover, Simmons responded coyly.
“Yeah, what's best for the team. I don't know right now. But the next focus is Portland. So I'm just going to take care of my body and then we'll see what happens.” “Sho,” Simmons said.
“I'm fine, dude. I'm fine,” Russell told the Post. “I have no idea what the future holds. I don't know what the future holds. If I knew, I would answer.”
Bojan Bogdanovic (recovering from left leg injury), Maxwell Lewis (left tibia fracture), De'Anthony Melton (left anterior cruciate ligament tear) and Watford (left hamstring injury) are all out.
Tosan Ebubuomwan scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting and 2-of-5 boards from deep for Utah State.
Through those three games, he is averaging 15.0 points on .625 shooting and .444 from deep.
“He's been playing really well. He's been a bright spot for us,” Nick Claxton said. “He's also a calming presence. I don't know much about his game, but he's been doing really well since he's been here.”
The Nets have drawn 23 total charges, fourth-most in the NBA and most in the East.
Last season there were only nine, the fewest since the statistic began being tracked.
