Sixers' Ben Simmons Listed as Questionable vs. Nets on Thursday

With the NBA All-Star break in the rearview mirror, the regular season will resume on Thursday night for the first time in a week. For the Philadelphia 76ers, they will pick up right where they left off at home with a matchup against the Brooklyn Nets.

On Brooklyn's side, it has already been revealed the Nets will be without their star point guard, Kyrie Irving, as the nine-year veteran deals with a shoulder injury. The Sixers' injury report heading into this matchup was clean before, but now there seems to potentially be a minor setback for Philly.

Earlier on Thursday afternoon, The Inquirer's Keith Pompey reported the Philadelphia 76ers have listed Ben Simmons on the injury report as Questionable against the Nets. Simmons, who played in this year's All-Star game, was healthy heading into the matchup. And after appearing in the matchup for nearly 30 minutes, Simmons made it out of the exhibition game healthy.

#Sixers PG Ben Simmons is now questionable with lower back tightness. His final status for tonight’s game will be determined pregame at the arena.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) February 20, 2020

However, after returning to practice in full on Wednesday, the star point guard pointed out some discomfort in his back, which would eventually be diagnosed as a lower-back strain by the Sixers' trainers. That called for his game status to be Questionable on Wednesday.

This season, Simmons has appeared in all three games against the Nets, where he was one of the Sixers' keys to defeating them two out of three times. He averaged just under 25 points-per-game, and eight assists during those matchups with Brooklyn. Simmons will be a game time decision on Thursday night.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_