MIAMI — Ben Simmons took his first flight since his balky back flared up and is “feeling a lot less pain,” a positive sign toward a potential debut this season with the Nets.
Simmons, who received an epidural injection last week to treat his herniated disk, joined the Nets inside the Miami Heat gym but didn’t practice.
“I think he’s feeling a lot less pain. So I don’t have any major updates,” coach Steve Nash said. “His symptoms are improving, and I think he’s progressing but he’s not on the floor yet.”
Nash wasn’t sure if the improvements were indicative of a successful epidural, or something else.
“I’m not sure I can answer that,” the coach added. “It might be the epidural, it might just be time, physical therapy. I’m not sure who is responsible for the improved symptoms.”
After Simmons' back flared up in late February, the Nets kept him off road trips while claiming it wasn’t prudent to sit on a plane with such an injury. He didn’t travel for Brooklyn’s game in Memphis on Wednesday, but joined the team for its three-night stay in Miami before Saturday night’s contest at FTX Arena.
The 25-year-old, acquired last month in a trade for James Harden, hasn’t played all season.
His potential return, along with Kyrie Irving’s ability to now play in home games, prompted Nets guard Goran Dragic to call these Nets his most talented team over a 13-year career.
“Talent-wise, yes. Talent-wise you have Kyrie and (Kevin Durant), two of the best offensive players in this league. And then when Ben comes back we get another multi-dimensional player who can defend, who can push the pace and make plays for others,” Dragic said. “And we are just here to help.”
Heat in Miami
The Heat were either fired up or unraveling before hosting the New York teams — the Knicks and Nets — beginning Friday.
During Wednesday’s loss to the Warriors, star Jimmy Butler and coach Erik Spoelstra got into a heated argument during a timeout, prompting veteran Udonis Haslem to interject and threaten Butler.
It got ugly in front of the cameras. Dragic, who played for the Heat the last seven seasons, said it was nothing new.
“That’s normal. I’ve been here for seven years, and this is how we operate,” Dragic said. “And at the end of the day, everybody’s doing their job; nothing is personal. And I know Jimmy well, he’s such a competitor guy he wants to be in every game. And Spo is the same way. So in the end, when you have two — I would not call it egos, you know what I mean — but they’re trying to do their job. And at the end of the day, it’s not the first time that happened. It happened in practice and this, I’m not saying about Jimmy but other players. And you just clean it up and move on. So that’s it.”
Knicks center Taj Gibson, who played with Butler in Chicago and Minnesota, also labeled the dust-up as normal, although it’s not frequently caught on camera.
“You look at the Miami Heat from previous years, they’ve been through it with LeBron, Bosh, those guys,” Gibson said. “It’s just a part of the process of a long season. Because you’ve got to think, we do see each other more than we see our families. So we’re going to have hot heads sometimes.”
