Ben Simmons sidelined with knee soreness
Nets guard Ben Simmons dribbles the ball upcourt against the Pacers in the first half of an NBA game at Barclays Center on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Injury woes have bitten Ben Simmons again.
The big man was sidelined for the Nets' game against the Pacers Monday with left knee soreness, the team announced – the same knee that was treated for loose bodies in 2020. Simmons returned to the court this year after missing the previous two seasons with knee issues, back issues, and mental health concerns. After playing his first game of the season Saturday, Seth Curry also sat out for injury management.
Coach Steve Nash wasn’t sure how long Simmons would be out. “Tomorrow, we’ll have to monitor and see how he is,” he said.
The Nets, meanwhile, continue to be cautious with Curry, who is returning from ankle surgery.
“I think he feels like he’s got a little bit of a ways to go before he’s at his best,” Nash said of Curry, who mentioned at shootaround Saturday that he still feels pain in the joint.
Nets can improve
After a disastrous loss to the Pacers Saturday that saw the Nets drop to 1-5, Nash called out his team’s resilience and character. Before the rematch Monday, Nash said that despite how difficult it is to build chemistry on the fly, he believes this group can do it.
“I think there’s choices to be made to rely on certain principles and behaviors,” Nash said. “Sometimes those things, those nebulous ideas and concepts, they can take a long time figure out, or you could decide, I’m going to look inside and see what I can do to help my teammates tonight to go that extra mile to make the little selfless plays I keep referring to (and) make this thing work. There can be a shift, a quick shift, if we have a positive and winning mentality and I believe in those guys.”
The Nets’ record going into Monday marked their worst start since the 2015-2016 season, where they lost the first seven games, and prompted a players-only meeting Saturday.
“We got to take pride individually,” Kevin Durant said. “Coach could do so much, he can tell you what to do, but he’s not playing for us. At the end of the day, coaching matters, chemistry, all that stuff matters, but at the end of the day we’re individuals. So we got to be better as individuals.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
