Grand opening, grand closing, and in Brooklyn, it was neither.
The Nets have ruled All-Star forward Ben Simmons out for their win-or-go-home Game 4 matchup against the Boston Celtics on Monday.
The designation as unavailable to play marks the end of the drama saga that has been Simmons’ road to recovering from a back injury preventing his debut in a Nets jersey.
It also leaves questions lingering for the near future.
Hours before the announcement, Nets head coach Steve Nash said he had no idea whether or not Simmons would be available for Game 4. Simmons, a three-time All-Star who held-out of the first half of the season with the Philadelphia 76ers and has not played in 10 months, became less likely to make his debut after the Nets fell into an 0-3 series hole on Saturday.
No team in NBA history has ever overcome such a deficit, and the Nets–especially with the defense Boston has played to neutralize superstar forward Kevin Durant–have not carried themselves like a team set to defy the unfavorable odds.
Which would have made Simmons’ return equal parts futile and dangerous. Of the 143 teams in NBA history that have faced a 0-3 playoff deficit, none have come back to win, while 89 of the other 143 teams to take a 3-0 lead have swept their opponent in Game 4.
The Nets would have been putting Simmons in the least advantageous position possible: He has not played 5-on-5 all season, has yet to practice with any of the Nets’ current rotation players, and is only recently returning to form after receiving an epidural to alleviate the pain from the herniated disk he suffered in March.
Simmons’ new Nets teammates touted his intelligence and IQ all season as compensating factors for his lack of familiarity with his teammates – and continued to do so in the hours before the Nets ruled him out.
“Hopefully he’s close to the Ben I’ve seen in the past,” sharpshooter Seth Curry, who was traded with Simmons from the 76ers in the James Harden deal, said after Sunday’s practice: “A big, long body defensively, guards all five positions, hopefully provide some pace, rebounds and transition game, and some playmaking and physicality. Just everything he brings if he plays in whatever minutes he’s out there. Hopefully it’s a little boost of energy as well.”
But at this juncture of a season that has spiraled well out of control, bringing back Simmons never made sense. Simmons also reportedly woke up Sunday morning with back soreness, according to ESPN, ending the saga the same way it started.
With Simmons wearing high-priced designer outfits on the sideline while the rest of the world wonders what could have been had he been healthy enough to help his team.
No determination has been made for Simmons’ availability for Game 5, but a Game 5 is only a possibility if the Nets handle business on Monday in Game 4. That potential elimination game won’t feature Simmons, but the Nets will have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, both of whom are overdue for a breakout game after the Celtics bottled them up in Games 2 and 3.
And if the Nets win to force a Game 5? It’ll be back to the drawing board for Simmons, whose debut this season now hinges on the Nets staying alive long enough for him to feel ready enough to play.
“It’s more about ‘Is he ready to play?’ than (risk of) re-injury,” Nash said after practice on Sunday. “We have time to, after the season, to continue to rehab and build up. They go hand in hand. If he’s ready to play that means there’s limited risk of injury. There’s always a risk, so the two kind of go hand-in-hand, but I don’t think anyone is thinking of ‘that’s a huge risk.’ It’s ‘Is he available?’ Is he ready to play? Can he contribute?”
