Nets star Ben Simmons said he feels “great” after injury bouts with both his lower back and his left knee/calf, but head coach Jacque Vaughn said the team will continue to be cautious — within reason — with Simmons’ workload.
Simmons returned to the lineup last Friday after missing 12 days with a left lateral calf strain. He’s appeared in 19 of the Nets’ 29 games, missing time due to the calf, knee swelling and early maintenance of his lower back after undergoing a microdiscectomy this offseason.
Simmons’ nagging injuries, however, have been onset by an overload of minutes and games. The calf issues arose in the middle of the second game of a back-to-back, when Simmons asked to be pulled out of a game against the Orlando Magic at the top of the second quarter.
