Atlantic Notes: Simmons, Irving, Brown, Horford

The Sixers are making ready to make use of the identical technique whether or not Ben Simmons is a part of the workforce or not, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The scenario is surrounded by uncertainty even after Simmons made a surprise appearance in Philadelphia Monday night time, then met with management on Tuesday. He nonetheless desires to be traded and the Sixers have promised to oblige, however no traction has been reported on any potential deal.

Coach Doc Rivers is downplaying the extent of distraction, telling reporters, there’s not a Plan A and Plan B relying on whether or not Simmons is concerned. “It’s solely a Plan A,” Rivers mentioned. “What we run, you don’t change simply because one man comes on the ground.”

Simmons’ absence has left a void at level guard as a result of he usually initiates the offense when he’s on the court docket. Accidents have delayed Rivers’ plans to call a starter as Tyrese Maxey, who has adductor tightness, and Shake Milton, who’s coping with a sprained ankle, each missed Monday’s preseason sport.

“Clearly, spacing goes to vary with Ben on the market,” Seth Curry mentioned. “However we all know easy methods to regulate. All people is aware of easy methods to play basketball. It’s not too completely different from the stuff we did final yr. It’s simply making an attempt to execute stuff higher.”

There’s extra from the Atlantic Division:

• Nets star James Harden confirms that he and Kevin Durant had been each consulted earlier than administration reached the choice to not enable Kyrie Irving to be a part-time participant, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Harden says he helps his teammate, however doesn’t need the scenario to change into a distraction. “Kyrie believes in his beliefs, and he stands agency and robust on that. And for us, we respect it,” Harden mentioned. “All of us love Ky. However so far as us, now we have a job to do. Individually, myself, I’m nonetheless eager to set myself up for a championship. And I really feel like your complete group is on the identical path and we’re all on this as a collective unit.”
• Celtics coach Ime Udoka expects Jaylen Brown to be prepared for opening night time following a bout with COVID-19, tweets Boston author Mark Murphy. He added that will probably be a “tight timeline” for Al Horford to play.
• Rich Levine of Boston.com examines the long-term prospects for Celtics second-round decide Juhann Begarin, who will play this season in France.