What Ben Simmons' injury means for Celtics, East playoff race

What was once expected to be a potential high stakes matchup in the bubble for the Celtics tonight against the Raptors has transitioned into simply a good litmus test. The Raptors have taken care of business in Orlando so far, standing out as the only undefeated team in the East (4-0) over the first week in Florida. That dominance has already locked up the No. 2 seed in the East for the defending champions, leaving them with nothing to fight for in their final four games.

The Celtics, meanwhile look to be in a comfortable spot with the No. 3 seed even after a 2-2 start in the bubble. The Heat’s loss to the Bucks on Thursday has taken some pressure off of Boston with the standings with Miami sitting 2.5 games Boston with just four games to play. With a couple of cupcakes left on the schedule for the C’s (Washington, Memphis without Jaren Jackson Jr.), only a total collapse and a hot finish by Miami would prevent them staying at No. 3.

For now, the bigger developments in the Eastern Conference stand in the bottom half of the East, where the 4-6 spots remain very unsettled for the time being with just 1.5 games separating the Heat, Pacers and Sixers.



The Celtics will obviously be watching to see how the standings shake out to figure out who they will end up with during a first-round matchup but new injury news indicates they will be facing a team missing a key contributor in Round 1 no matter who their opponent is. We already know the Pacers are expected to be without big man Domantas Sabonis (plantar fascitis) indefinitely in Orlando but the Sixers find themselves in a similar boat after it was announced on Thursday that All-Star Ben Simmons had suffered a subluxation of his left patella during Wednesday’s win over the Wizards.

The knee injury has put a damper over a Sixers team that has been struggling mightily already on the defensive end in Orlando.

“I think there is certainly some disappointment. I think the uncertainty of, ‘What really is it right now?’ is obviously there,” head coach Brett Brown said when asked about Simmons’ mental state on Thursday. “But he’s a great teammate and his teammates care about him. And I think more will unfold, obviously, in the next, I say, 24 hours when we can provide more information.”

Simmons has come back from one serious injury he suffered in February that ailment was expected to sideline him for the majority of the season and playoffs with the games were played as scheduled before the NBA hiatus. The four-month layoff allowed him to recover before the knee injury surfaced.

“There is clearly disappointment because I don’t know if anybody really understood what (Simmons) did to get ready to play basketball again,” Brown said of an injury striking again. “Like, he really invested time. He really was diligent during the whole pandemic about recovery and rehab and strength and conditioning. It’s monotonous, some of the smaller things he had to do to add up to being able to play NBA basketball again.”

Several players have missed time due to a patella subluxation and dislocation in the past few years with a wide variety of recovery times. Allen Crabbe missed only 11 days while former Celtic Chris Wilcox had to sit out five games back during the 2008-09 season. Andrew Bynum was forced to miss months back in 2008 as well since he suffered additional damage to his ligament so every situation is different.

For now, the Sixers are exploring treatment options that may lead to a quicker return but it’s safe to say he’s done for seeding games over the next week. With the start of the NBA postseason just nine days away, missing at least a chunk of the Sixers’ first-round series looks likely for Simmons as well unless treatment is very effective.

So the question is now whether Simmons’ injury will keep the Sixers locked in their current No. 6 seed in the East? Here’s a look at the remaining schedules for all the teams packed into the 4-6 spots.

4. MIA: PHX, IND, OKC, IND 
5. IND: LAL, MIA, HOU, MIA (1 GB)
6. PHI: ORL, POR, PHX, TOR, HOU (1.5 GB)

Both the Pacers and Heat hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Sixers but the Pacers do have the hardest schedule left, especially if the Heat are playing their regulars in those games. Miami has been also dealing with ankle injuries to a couple key players in Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic but those seems to be of the minor variety, with no question about their postseason availability.

Some games on the Sixers schedule that once appeared to be soft opponents before bubble play began can no longer be categorized as such though. The Blazers and Suns are fighting for their playoff lives and are some of the hottest teams in Orlando at the moment. The only good news for Philly here is that the Raptors and Rockets could be locked into seeding matchups already by the time they play their last two games, so they may opt to rest some starters against a shorthanded Philly.

How aggressively Philadelphia and Indiana go after the 4/5 seed could be telling in the next week in terms of who they want to play themselves. Both teams may just opt to rest starters as well and let the chips fall where they may but if each plays to win aggressively the finish line of the seeding games, it’s likely they want to avoid a first-round date with the Celtics. Boston’s certainty with its positioning will allow Brad Stevens plenty of opportunities to rest and reduce starters minutes down the stretch as well, knowing they have no impact on where they stand in those matchups.

With that said, Friday’s matchup with the Raptors will provide one final test for the C’s ahead of the postseason against an elite opponent. They’ve come up short so far against the Bucks and Heat and no other team in Orlando is playing better defense than the Raptors so far so this will be a good measuring stick matchup after an encouraging bounce-back win for Boston on Wednesday night.