Report: Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons likely out for season
98.5 The Sports Hub staff report
A knee injury has likely ended Philadelphia star Ben Simmons’ 2019-20 season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Per Woj, Simmons is dealing with “a loose body as a result of a left patella subluxation suffered in Wednesday’s victory over the Washington Wizards. A subluxation of the patella means that the kneecap popped out of place but returned on its own.”
With Simmons out, ex-Celtic Al Horford will be thrust back into Philly’s starting lineup, while the bunch of the 76er offense will now have to come from superstar center Joel Embiid, who was already averaging a Sixer-leading 24 points per game this season.
This is potentially big news to the Celtics, too, as the C’s and Sixers would meet in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs if the season ended today, with the C’s as the No. 3 seed and the Sixers in the No. 6 spot.
That could change between now and the actual start of the postseason, of course, as the Sixers, Pacers, and Heat are all separated by a half-game as the NBA approaches its final stretch of the eight-game regular-season restart in Orlando.
But, again, this could be a massive, potentially series-changing factor for the Celtics, with Simmons averaging 18.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and shooting 60.8 percent from the field in his four-game run against Boston in 2019-20. The Sixers, of course, finished the regular season with a 3-1 record against the Celtics.
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