Are the Nets playing Ben Simmons, Nic Clacton vs the Trail Blazers? Latest injury update

The The Brooklyn Nets will face the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday at the Moda Center. Ben Simmons and Nic Clacton are questionable on the team’s injury report for the front end of the back to the back. Simmons is nursing a lower back injury and has soreness in his left knee, while Clacton has a strained right hamstring.

Here’s everything we know about both players’ injuries and game statuses against the Trail Blazers.

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Ben Simmons, Nic Clacton injury status for Nets-Trail Blazers

Simmons returned for the Nets’ final two games after missing four games due to calf soreness and treatment for lower back injuries. However, he still hasn’t been cleared to play back-to-back, and Brooklyn will visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. The team has carefully managed the three-time All-Star’s workload this year after his last two seasons were cut short by back injuries.

With Simmons set to sit one game during a back-to-back, it would be surprising to see him struggle against Portland, given the ramifications of draft positioning. The Trail Blazers are a half game behind the Nets for the sixth place in the draw table.

Meanwhile, Claxton appeared on Brooklyn’s injury report after Sunday’s overtime loss to the Utah Jazz. The six-year center hasn’t missed a game since a Nov. 27 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Head coach Jordi Fernandes has preached a cautious approach to injuries this season, saying he wants players to be 200 per cent before returning from any illness.

Given this and the positioning element of Tuesday’s draft game, it would be surprising to see Clacton play through any hamstring discomfort.

Cam Johnson and D’Angelo Russell are also questionable for the Blazers match. Johnson has missed the last five games with a sprained right ankle, while Russell has missed four straight games with a right calf contusion. Cam Thomas will miss Tuesday’s game and the rest of the trip in Brooklyn after re-aggravating a strained left hamstring that kept him out for a month earlier this season.

The Nets posted the NBA’s worst offensive rating amid a spate of injuries during a five-game losing streak. Portland has won four of its last nine and enters Tuesday’s game on two days of rest. Danny Avdia (sprained right ankle) and Dalano Bunton (illness) are questionable, while Jeremy Grant (facial contusion) will miss his eighth straight game with a facial contusion.