Ben Simmons will miss his third straight game Wednesday with knee soreness.
The Nets, on Tuesday, ruled out Simmons, who had been listed as “questionable” entering the team’s previous two games.
Before the Nets’ win over the Lakers on Monday, head coach Jacque Vaughn said Simmons had shown “signs of progress” and he hoped he would be ready to face Boston on Wednesday.
There is little clarity about the situation, which began when Simmons left a loss to the Pistons last Thursday citing left knee soreness, which has cropped up multiple times this season. In the past, Simmons has said the issue is related to his offseason back surgery.
Simmons exited the game while playing on the back end of a back-to-back. The last time Simmons exited with knee soreness, on Nov. 28, he also had played consecutive days. In the aftermath of Simmons’ most recent setback, Vaughn said he wanted all his players to strive “to play every game and to do what’s necessary to be prepared to play every game.
“You just have to give credit to the guys who were prepared to play.”
Asked this past weekend whether Simmons has been preparing properly for each game, Vaughn did not answer directly because he did not want “to pinpoint one guy.”
Vaughn said Monday he has not recently talked about workload specifics with Simmons, who was struggling prior to the injury. Simmons missed all of last season with the back issue and mental-health concerns.
“I think our conversations will be real and what can we handle from a management and load perspective, cumulative loads across the board over the course of games,” Vaughn said. “So all those questions will be on the table in order for us to keep our group healthy and whole as we trend toward the end of the year.”
T.J. Warren (left shin contusion) also will miss his third straight game.
Yuta Watanabe was added to the injury report and is probable for the contest with back tightness.
Celtics center Robert Williams III, who missed Boston’s most recent game Saturday, is questionable with a left-ankle sprain.
Boston guard Marcus Smart will sit for his fifth straight game with a right ankle sprain.
The Nets recalled Kessler Edwards from the G-League. Edwards posted 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and a block with Long Island on Monday night.
