Nets' Ben Simmons out vs. Knicks with sore left knee
Ben Simmons of the Nets looks on from the bench during the second quarter against the Knicks at Barclays Center on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Ben Simmons missed his 12th game of the season Saturday as the Nets held him out with a sore left knee.
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn had no information about whether Simmons will have an MRI. This is the sixth game he has missed this season with soreness in his left knee and it’s not clear if he reaggravated something Thursday against the Pistons.
Simmons left the third quarter of that game after getting hit in the face and did not return because of knee soreness. He was 0-for-3 when he left.
Seth Curry started in place of Simmons, who is averaging a career low 7.4 points per game but leads the Nets with 6.4 assists.
Robinson keeps conditioning up
While he wasn’t putting a date on a return, Tom Thibodeau expressed confidence that when Mitchell Robinson is ready to return he won’t have to ramp his way back up.
Garden chairman James Dolan said Wednesday that the Knicks would have to get through the next four weeks without Robinson, who is sidelined with a fractured right thumb. “Just going to be reexamined,” Thibdodeau said. “He’s running. He’s doing what he can. It’s obviously his hand so he’s doing conditioning. Once he gets reexamined we’ll know more. When he’s cleared he’s cleared
“He’s got to hit markers and stuff so you just trust the medical people. He’s feeling good, doing all that he can. When the medical people clear him then he’s got to go through contact and that’ll be the next step. So right now obviously there’s no contact.”
Kyrie again hits 20 in 4th
The game marked the fourth time this season that Kyrie Irving has scored 20 points in a fourth quarter. Since quarter stats were first tracked in 1996-97, only three other players have recorded 20-point fourth quarters in a season. They are Trae Young (2019-20), Kemba Walker (2018-19) and Isaiah Thomas (2016-17) . . . Nic Claxton continued his hot streak against the Knicks, scoring 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting Claxton has now made 28 of his last 31 shots.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
