On March 13, Beijing time, the Nets trained to prepare for tomorrow's home game against the Knicks. The official posted a training map, Irving and Durant are among them, but because it is a home game, Irving is not eligible to participate. Nash updated Simmons' back injury in a post-training interview, and team reporter Lewis also filmed Simmons receiving treatment on the sidelines.
Speaking about Simmons' delayed debut due to a back injury, Nash said: "He has problems with his back from time to time. So I don't want to go and say he has a bad back. I don't know if that's fair, I think his (back injury) situation has escalated a bit. When Simmons first had back pain, Nash said it was just a minor problem, and now he admits that the problem has escalated. Previously, there were media reports that Simmons' back injury was more serious than the Nets expected.
Nash revealed that Simmons can only participate in some light training at present, and he needs to do some 1V0, 1V1 training before participating in the team's full training, and so on. Generally speaking, players have to participate in several 5v5 confrontation training before returning, and Simmons has not even started 1V0 yet, and his debut may be difficult to complete in March. Nash also said Aldridge was affected by a hip injury and would be absent for at least a week.
Simmons' delay in playing also increased pressure on Irving and Durant, especially the latter. After all, Irving's refusal to vaccinate left him unable to play at home, while the Nets played 10 of the remaining 15 games at home and 1 away against the New York Knicks. In other words, Irving only has 4 regular season games left to play. So far this season, Irving has played in 18 games for the Nets, averaging 25.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
The Nets also officially announced the injury situation for the Knicks tomorrow: Ard, Duke, Harris, Simmons and Irving are out of the lineup, and Durant is single-handedly playing in the New York derby.