Nets shorthanded for clash with Blazers that carries lottery ramifications

PORTLAND The Nets game Tuesday night at Portland will have plenty of lottery ramifications.

And theyre going into it shorthanded.

Leading scorer Cam Thomas and backup forward Trendon Watford are both out, while point guard DAngelo Russell and wing Cam Johnson are in doubt.

Russell has missed four straight games with a right shin contusion.

Johnson has sat out five in a row with a right ankle sprain suffered in the waning seconds of their Jan.

2 victory in Milwaukee.

The Nets havent won since he got hurt.

Simmons is all but certain to miss one of the next two as well.

He still hasnt been cleared to play both ends of back-to-backs yet, with Brooklyn also slated to play the Clippers on Wednesday.

After returning from a four-game injury absence of his own with 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds in Denver, Simmons followed that up with 14 points, nine assists and six boards Sunday in Utah.

He played 31:38 to exceed his minutes limit, before finally sitting in the second half of the overtime period.

Ben was engaged the whole game.

You see the [stats] ...

very, very good line.

We need this type of Ben, aggressive, trying to score, very efficient, coach Jordi Fernandez said.

But what I liked the most was him engaging with his teammates, talking to his teammates, telling them what to do.

And that was very good.

Im not going to give [the minutes limit], but we felt like his body is the most important thing.

And its not just goes for Ben, goes for everybody else.

And if we feel like theres any risk, were not going to take it.

We know where were at....

So again, were not going to risk anything with Ben or anybody else.

Their health, their bodies, are most important for us.

Asked if hed be more likely to play Tuesday and sit on Wednesday to give Russells shin an extra day to recover, Simmons was coy.

Yeah, whatever is best for the team.

I dont know right now.

But Portland is the next focus.

So, Im just taking care of my body, and then well see what happens, Simmons said.

Im good, man.

Im good, Russell told The Post.

I dont really know what the future is, dont know what the future holds.

If I knew, Id answer.

Bojan Bogdanovic (left foot injury recovery), Maxwell Lewis (left tibia fracture), DeAnthony Melton (left knee ACL tear) and Watford (left hamstring strain) are all out.

Tosan Evbuomwan had a career-high 22 points in Utah on 7-for-8 shooting, and 2-for-3 from deep with five boards.

Over this three-game stretch, hes averaging 15.0 points on .625 shooting and .444 from deep.

Hes played really well.

He brought us a spark, Nic Claxton said.

Hes a calm presence, too.

I dont know much about his game, but hes done really well since hes been here.

The Nets have drawn 23 total charges, fourth most in the NBA and the most in the East.

They had just nine last season, the fewest since the stat started being tracked..

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