East Notes: Nets, Ben Simmons, Sixers, Cavs

Nets

Ben Simmons missed Wednesday’s game against the Clippers with a hip injury, having been ruled out shortly before tipoff.

Coach Jacque Vaughn said Simmons’ status for Friday’s game vs. the Celtics is up in the air.

“It’s going to be just really how he responds,” Vaughn said, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “He’ll get treatment tonight. We get the day in between Boston he’ll get treatment tomorrow. And I’ll touch base with him to see how he’s feeling.”

• Vaughn confirmed that Cameron Johnson and Nic Claxton scrimmaged with the G League’s Long Island Nets, saying that they made it through with “no adverse reactions,” via Erik Slater of Clutch Points. Vaughn did not offer a timetable for their return. (Related post)

 76ers

Coach Nick Nurse said he’s still looking for rising guard Tyrese Maxey to be even better.

“I want (Maxey) to be more aggressive than he’s being … he needs to take those chances more often … he’s running a good floor game, going to what’s open,” Nurse said, via Bobby Manning of CLNS Media.

• Forward Tobias Harris said the Sixers looked forward to seeing how they stack up against the Celtics. “They’ve been playing great basketball,” Harris said, via Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “So we are going to embrace this challenge and opportunity for us. We truly believe we have a great group here, a really good team.

Cavaliers

• We have all sorts of stuff on our Cavs page, starting with the latest Pregame Dribbles. We also have some dribbles from Tuesday on their upcoming trip, right here.
• Along with that, we discussed the early season and what’s ahead at great length on the latest Cavs on the Break podcast. Give a listen on iTunes here or in the player below.