Nets' Ben Simmons Remains Out With Calf Injury vs. Raptors
The Brooklyn Nets have listed Ben Simmons (left lateral calf strain) out against the Toronto Raptors for Friday night’s game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The listing comes to no surprise as Nets head coach, Jacque Vaughn disclosed that the team’s point-forward will miss at least the next three games with the calf strain. Simmons will be reassessed after the three-game mark.
“He's out the next three games," said Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn on Simmons' calf strain injury during Wednesday’s pregame against the Washington Wizards. "And that's what we are and then we'll get to a point where we'll take a look at him after that. But ended up being an upper calf strain. We'll see where he's at after these three games that he’ll miss.”
The diagnosis of a left lateral calf strain comes after further imaging of Simmons' knee. The Nets head coach said the 26-year-old's pain came from the back of his left knee which ended up being his upper calf.
“It’s the knee but the back of the knee. He was grabbing his knee during the game and said he needs to come out. It ended up being the back of the knee," said Vaughn breaking down Simmons' injury location. "So it's the upper part of the calf which ended up being diagnosed after we took some imaging.”
The Nets will also be without Yuta Watanabe (right hamstring strain) and Alondes Williams (right adductor strain) for Friday night’s contest against the Raptors.
On the bright side, T.J. Warren is slated to make his official Nets debut Friday night. Warren, who hasn’t played since Dec. 29, 2020, has been cleared from his left foot - injury recovery rehab.
After Brooklyn’s win over Washington Wednesday night, both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving expressed excitement for the wing’s return to the hardwood in a Nets.
“First off, I'm just excited for him. I'm pretty sure he could talk more about the journey to initially deal with that injury and then now, two years later, have an opportunity to get back out there,” said Irving on Warren returning. “I can for sure say that when any of us get injured we sometimes get the game taken away from us very quickly and it can get in a feeling of emotions just taking advantage of you. So for him, I'm just excited that he gets to prove himself to our fans, prove himself to himself most importantly, that he's able to still be a top player in our league and help a winning team, especially one that's trying to win a championship so I'm excited for him.”
“Yeah, I mean we expect then that come out there and find his rhythm, get his legs up on the roof,” said Durant on Warren. “You know, it's gonna take a couple of weeks. It will take some time however long it takes we gonna support them, but having his presence out there is gonna be huge. I'm happy for him. He'd been away from the game for so long, so I won't put too many too much too high expectations on him but we're excited to have him back.”
