NEW YORK — Ben Simmons received an epidural while the Nets were in Orlando, Fla., for their matchup against the Magic on Tuesday, according to Steve Nash. The hope, the Nets coach said, is the injection will help accelerate Simmons’ recovery time from a back issue that has delayed his Nets debut more than a month since his Feb. 10 arrival via the James Harden trade.
“And take some of the irritation down,” the Hall of Fame point guard said ahead of tip-off against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. “So hopefully that will help him relieve some of the symptoms and be able to recover quicker and accelerate that process.”
Nash offered no additional timeline for Simmons’ recovery, adding to the never-ending saga of players missing games in Brooklyn this season.
“No. It just depends on the epidural and how he responds,” Nash said. “And then we can start to formulate a plan.”
Nash also ruled out the idea of back surgery — at least at this point in the season — as epidurals are also used to temporarily paralyze lower parts of the body in preparation for a procedure.
“I don’t think anyone’s even talked about a procedure, so that would be a way down the line scenario,” Nash said. “We expect him back at some point, and I’m not the doc so I want to be very careful about what I say about the epidural. I don’t know about a fact-finding [mission]. ... I don’t think that they’re in the dark about what’s hurting him. I think it’s just a matter of finding the things that he’ll respond best to.”
Whether or not Simmons’ back heals rapidly after this injection remains to be seen. What also remains to be seen is Simmons, who has yet to fully participate in Nets team practice and was last categorized as out of game-shape.
With just 12 games left on the schedule after Wednesday’s matchup against the Mavericks.
It’s been a series of unfortunate events all season long: Kyrie Irving didn’t get vaccinated in one of just three NBA cities (Toronto and San Francisco being the others) with strict vaccine mandates; Joe Harris suffered a season-ending ankle injury midway through November; Kevin Durant missed a month-and-a-half with an MCL sprain; and Harden saw the writing on the wall and forced his way to Philadelphia in exchange for Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.
As a result, the Nets have spiraled down the Eastern Conference standings. In just two months, they’ve plummeted from first to barely eighth.
Which is why Simmons received an epidural in the first place: The Nets are attempting to get him on the floor despite a back injury that has nagged at him dating back to his training camp holdout in Philadelphia last year.
Time’s running out with only a couple weeks left until the sudden-death play-in tournament begins. At this rate, it’s unclear if Simmons will be available by then, either.
Curry back
Nets sharpshooter Seth Curry missed Wednesday’s matchup against the Mavericks but is expected to play against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, Nash said. Curry has battled ankle injuries dating back to his time in Philadelphia, and missed the Nets’ previous two games against the Magic and the Knicks. The Nets ruled Curry out of the Knicks game just moments before tip-off.
“He’s had an ankle, calf situation that’s been bugging him,” Nash said after ruling Curry out on Sunday. “He was due to play, and I think just an early game, he couldn’t get it right before the game. It’s been there so it’s not a surprise. We just thought he would play, but I think he just — with an early game, we couldn’t get it right in time to go.”
