2 min read • April 24, 2022
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The Nets made a surprise move by ruling out Ben Simmons for Monday's elimination Game 4 against the Celtics.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Simmons had been preparing to take the court on Monday for his Nets' debut but experienced back soreness on Sunday, which spurred the Nets to air on the side of caution.
The ProBasketballDocs have been pessimistic about Simmons' availability and potential to be a productive contributor for Brooklyn this postseason a little over a month since he received a steroid epidural to help recover from his herniated disc. Even as reports emerged last week that he was readying for a return this series, the Docs gave him an SIC Health score of 41 and expected no more than 15 minutes in his return.
As they detailed at the time, his path back was already a tough one, and the shortened timetable to get back to the court for what would be high-intensity playoff minutes made it an even tougher proposition.
He was in the process of a rapid ramp-up, moving from immobilization to anti-gravity workouts to five-on-five scrimmages over the course of the last few weeks.
Simmons could potentially be in line for surgery this offseason to repair the back issue that he has dealt with since 2018 and has had two separate lengthy absences for since March 2020.
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