The Boston Celtics are set to face the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 115 – 108 to secure the Eastern Conference’s seventh seed Tuesday night, but it is unclear if we will see the debut of star forward Ben Simmons against the Celtics early in that series.
While some optimistic estimates put the return of the former 76er early in the first-round series in a limited role, Nets head coach Steve Nash revealed that Simmons “hasn’t started sprinting and hasn’t progressed beyond 1-0 workouts yet” per SNY’s Ian Begley.
Guards Goran Dragic and Seth Curry returned in the win over the Cavs from a bout in the health and safety protocols and a sprained ankle respectively and appear available to play moving forward, but scored a combined 3 points on 1-of-7 shooting in 44 minutes of floor time.
Celtics set to face Nets in first round after Brooklyn beats Cleveland Cavaliers 115 – 108 https://t.co/KGkADWKeN9
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) April 13, 2022
Simmons, Curry, and Dragic will have plenty of time to heal and condition further with Game 1 of their series with Boston not set to kick off until Sunday, April 17, but with the Celtics also nursing their starting center Robert Williams III back to health from a torn meniscus, time may not be as kind to the Nets as they might otherwise hope.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
