Ben Simmons, Tyronn Lue return to Clippers lineup from multi-game absences
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The LA Clippers are two steps closer to whole as they wrap up their road trip in Atlanta on Friday night. Guard/forward Ben Simmons and head coach Tyronn Lue have both been absent for a period of time, but both will make their return against the Hawks.
The Clippers will be going for their fifth win in their last six games. They’ve struggled a bit on the road this season, but are putting it together at the right time.
Ben Simmons, Tyronn Lue return from multi-game absences
Clippers forward Ben Simmons has missed the last two weeks with what the team called left knee injury management. The Australian forward took a hit to the knee from big man Trey Jemison III during the February 28th Lakers-Clippers game.
Simmons did not travel with the Clippers to start this three-game road trip, staying back to continue rehabbing while the team put together a plan for his return.
“I’m progressing,” Ben Simmons told ClutchPoints before the Clippers’ home game against the Sacramento Kings this past Sunday. “They’re figuring out everything right now in terms of when I’ll be with the team. I know we have a back-to-back coming out of New Orleans with Miami, so obviously with travel and then the flights, we want to make sure everything holds up all right, but yeah, so we’re figuring that out now.”
Simmons traveled and joined the team in Atlanta on Thursday night. He’ll return to the second unit, where he’s been primarily used as the point guard offensively and the center defensively.
Head coach Tyronn Lue, who has missed the last three games due to lower back pain, also makes his return on Friday night. The Clippers’ head coach planned to coach last Sunday’s game against the Kings, but left the arena to go home due to the increasing discomfort and pain in his back.
He traveled on the three-game road trip, but did not coach the first two games against the New Orleans Pelicans or Miami Heat, but is coaching tonight against the Atlanta Hawks.
With Simmons back, Lue is looking forward to getting his young forward more comfortable on a team he’s only played five games with.
“Just trying to get us in a good flow and a good rhythm going down the stretch,” Tyronn Lue said of Ben Simmons’ return. “With 16 games left, just trying to get into as much of a rhythm as we can and playing well on both sides of the basketball and letting Ben get comfortable. I think he’s only played four games or something, so just let him get comfortable, understand what we need from him, how we can use him in different situations. I’m glad he’s able to come back tonight.”
In five games with the Clippers, Ben Simmons has averaged 6.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.4 steals per game on 58.3 percent shooting from the field.
The Clippers will be taking on former guard Terance Mann on Friday night, a guard who was traded on NBA trade deadline day to Atlanta in exchange for scorer and playmaker Bogdan Bogdanovic.
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In his last nine games for the Hawks, all off the bench, Mann has averaged 11.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while shooting 56 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, meanwhile, has been a strong source of scoring, playmaking, and rebounding for the Clippers. He’s averaging 12.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 14 appearances so far, including a 30-point, 10-rebound, four-assist performance against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
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