Is Ben Simmons' Left Knee Soreness Concerning?
The Brooklyn Nets attempted to let point forward Ben Simmons give it a go in the second game of a back-to-back on Thursday night. By the third quarter of Brooklyn's trap game defeat to the Eastern Conference worst Detroit Pistons, he exited the game with an injury.
After logging 20 minutes, Simmons exited the game after experiencing left knee soreness. The injury marks the second time he has exited a second game of a back-to-back this season. In fact, both were due to a left knee issue.
"The goal, in my eyes, is for everyone to play every game and do what's necessary to play every game," said Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn on Simmons' exiting Thursday's contest. "It's a certain amount of minutes each individual played in Philly. Some played equally tonight. The preparation that it takes going into that, you just have to give credit to the guys who were prepared to play, ready to play, did what was necessary to get their bodies ready to play."
In his 20 minutes of action, Simmons attempted only three shots and did not score. He did dish out a total of seven assists before requesting to go to the locker room, and eventually being ruled out for the remainder of the loss.
The injury does rise some concern for the Nets and Simmons. Through the first half of the regular season, Brooklyn's point forward has combated several injuries. The concerning part is that there's a commonality with injury woes to his left leg area.
Outside of missing a handful of games with left knee injuries, Simmons has battled a lateral left calf strain and lower back soreness. He has noted in the past that his knee injury issues are related to his off-season back surgery and the minutes' load.
