The Brooklyn Nets crushed the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night in Brooklyn, thanks to a season-high 29 points out of veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie. The win improved the Nets In-Season Tournament record to 2-1 in East Group C.
Dinwiddie, Mikal Bridges, and Cam Johnson combined for 70 points, and 11 made threes on 22 attempts. If Brooklyn can get nights like that out of those three veterans, they can beat any team in the association.
Before Brooklyn’s win on Tuesday, the Nets got some unfortunate injury news on one of their most important players.
What is Ben Simmons’ status?
This one will bum out Nets Nation. Ben Simmons, who has not played since November 6th thanks to a hip injury, will be out indefinitely. Not only does he have a hip injury, but a recent MRI discovered he now has a nerve impingement in the lower left side of his back, which is very concerning given his back injury history.
Nets' Ben Simmons has been diagnosed with nerve irritation on the lower left side of his body and will miss some time, according to his agent Bernie Lee. Simmons has missed the past three games.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 14, 2023
Before last night’s game, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn had this to say about the status of Simmons.
"“He will be out at least a week. I had been telling you guys that he was day-to-day. I try to give you guys as much as I can, as honest as I can. Ben was day-to-day, he was improving. It got to a point where obviously he wasn’t playing, so we wanted to be extremely thorough. He had an MRI yesterday, which was read today. It showed a left side impingement. We’ll look at him a week from now… He had been showing signs of being positive and leaning in the right direction of feeling better. So hopefully a week from now we can see some more progress.”"
What is Cam Thomas’ status?
Thomas left last Wednesday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers with a sprained left ankle and will be re-evaluated at the end of next week. He spoke to the media about his injury frustrations before Tuesday’s win over Orlando.
Cam Thomas on the timing of his ankle injury:
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) November 14, 2023
"It’s frustrating. I was playing real well, helping the team. We were competing. I was number 6 or 7 in scoring at the time... But at the end of the day, everything happens for a reason. I’m just trying to rehab as best I can so I… pic.twitter.com/jbyGt8yUsM
In a funny pre-game moment, Thomas did not realize that Simmons also had a back injury.
Cam Thomas when asked about Ben Simmons’ back injury: “Oh it’s a back injury?”
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) November 14, 2023
In fairness to Thomas, Simmons suffers injuries at such a rapid rate that it’s hard to know what body part is hurt at any given time.
Given Brooklyn’s rash of injuries this season, Sean Marks may consider a trade for a durable All-Star or a disgruntled multi-time All-Star.
Brooklyn Nets City Edition schedule: find out when the funky jerseys are worn
The Brooklyn Nets have started wearing their 2023-2024 NBA City Edition uniforms, and will wear them frequently in the upcoming weeks