MILWAUKEE — Cameras caught Kyrie Irving yelling to Ben Simmons to shoot Wednesday night, the same thing Nets fans have been screaming for a while.
But after the Nets’ 110-99 loss to the Bucks, Irving said he’s not going to analyze and dissect Simmons’ play on a nightly basis, but will just support his rusty teammate.
“I’m not trying to be critical of what Ben’s done wrong and done right every night,” Irving said. “You guys keep coming in here and asking me what about Ben, what about Ben. And it’s he hasn’t played in two years. Give him a f–king chance. You stay on his s–t. I wish I could say other words but I’m a Jersey boy. You stay on him. We’re just here to give him positive affirmation and just let him hoop.
“It’s not an individual job to go out here and be Superman. He doesn’t have to. There’s no such thing; it’s made up anyway. I like to say a phrase that my dad says: A hero is nothing but a sandwich. Everyone wants to be a hero, but it’s a team game.”
Much has been made of Simmons’ lack of aggression, and how his refusal to drive or shoot has let teams sag in the paint. He was slightly more assertive Wednesday, and the Nets benefitted early on.
Simmons did seem to hurt his back after a hit from Giannis Antetokounmpo, who also got Kevin Durant in the shoulder and forearmed 6-foot Patty Mills to the floor.
“Definitely I think each game I feel more comfortable. I think once I kind of got hit and tweaked my back a bit, I was a little more hesitant after that, as you guys could probably see,” Simmons said. “But I definitely feel like in each game I’m progressing a bit with my physicality and aggressiveness.”
Simmons finished the game, in which he had four points and nine assists in 34:28, and said his back was OK.
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“It’s good. We’ll see [Thursday]. Usually a day it takes to really know how you’re feeling,” said Simmons, who is hopeful of playing the tail end of the back-to-back Thursday versus visiting Dallas.
“It’s no time to hold our heads or anytime to look for excuses,” Irving said. “We got Luka Doncic coming in all world everything and I’m looking forward to the challenge against the Dallas Mavericks.”
Shooting guard Seth Curry won’t play Thursday, but he seems close to making his season debut after summer left ankle surgery.
Curry left the road trip early and flew home ahead of the team. The plan was to get him a full practice with G-League Long Island with an eye toward debuting Saturday versus the Pacers.
“Seth is going to get a good practice in with our G-League team, and hopefully he’ll be able to play after that,” coach Steve Nash said.
Markieff Morris was still out because of the death of someone close to him. T.J. Warren (left foot) remained out and won’t be evaluated until next month.
Milwaukee was missing three players, all wings on long-term injuries: Pat Connaughton (calf), Joe Ingles (ACL) and Khris Middleton (wrist).
