Ben Simmons will rely on instincts when he returns to Nets tonight

After shootaround Monday, Ben Simmons grabbed rebounds and tossed a few passes to Cam Johnson while Johnson finished his usual routine of shooting jumpers.

Simmons will play his first game since Nov. 6 after being cleared by the Nets following a nerve impingement in his lower back. So it stands he and Johnson could use the extra timing since Johnson played only four games with Simmons since being traded to the Nets last season.

“He's a big piece of what we want to do,” said Johnson, who’s available for tonight's game against the Jazz after missing Saturday's win over the Rockets for personal reasons. “I only got to play the first game of the season with him, and even then I was kind of fresh back. So it wasn't really, necessarily, full-go.

“I'm really excited to get back on board and re-establish that chemistry and the way we want to play.”

The Nets would certainly agree. In the six games he played, Simmons made them one of the league’s best fast break scoring teams and had at least 10 rebounds in five games. He averaged 6.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists before being injured in a loss to the Bucks.

Simmons missed 38 consecutive games and a 39th for injury maintenance. He returns to a Nets team that’s 5-17 since Dec. 14 and enters Monday a half-game behind the Hawks for the last play-in tournament spot.

With the second half of the season under way, Simmons understands the urgency of his return. He spoke Saturday about wanting to make an immediate impact and get wins but knows it’s not easy stepping back into NBA game speed.

“I feel like basketball is a read-and-react game. So I think instincts play a lot,” Simmons said. “You go into the games, I can't tell you every play that's going to happen. It's just about reading what's out there and getting the best looks. So I'm ready and excited.”

It’s also the latest twist in Simmons’ journey since the Nets traded for him in February 2022. He sat out the 2021-22 season, had microdiscectomy surgery in May 2022 and played only 42 games last season while limited by a nerve impingement in his back.

This second impingement, in another area of his back, stopped what was a promising start to this season. In his last game, Simmons had 15 rebounds against the Bucks, his most since Jan. 16, 2021.

The big difference between this and last season’s injury, Simmons said, was he didn’t have to start his rehab process from the beginning. It was easier to manage based on the core/strength workouts he did last summer.

“I felt like I was just dealing with that injury in that area,” he said. “So I was able to keep that strength in other areas and just work on what I needed to work on in terms of the rehab.”

While there’s optimism with his return, there’s no guarantee Simmons stays healthy. He hasn’t finished a season since 2020-21.

At the same time, his skills raise the Nets’ floor considerably. With the Nets’ sixth in defensive efficiency this month, adding Simmons helps a unit that’s gotten better at that end since going to Paris three weeks ago.

“It just adds more versatility to the group in general,” Nic Claxton said. “Just having another guy who's used to switching, somebody that I'm used to playing with. I feel like we did some really good things on the defensive side of the ball last year.”

Simmons and the Nets can only hope that repeats along with growing chemistry alongside Johnson and Mikal Bridges. Monday’s return might not guarantee their season is saved but it doesn't hurt having Simmons on the floor after being out for 2 ½ months.

“We’re pretty desperate right now, we need wins, we don't have time to be on cruise control right now,” Claxton said. “We've been taking a lot of losses, so we need to definitely come out locked in and . . . be ready to go.”

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.