Prior to the Hawks game, Ben Simmons of the Nets and Cam Thomas receive critical injury updates.

The Brooklyn Nets won’t have enough players for their crucial game against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. Ben Simmons is classified as questionable after missing the previous two games due to stiffness in his left leg, while Cam Thomas was declared out for the third straight game due to a right ankle/midfoot injury.

Before Thursday’s 124-97 rout of Atlanta, interim head coach Kevin Ollie declared both players to be day-to-day.

With seven minutes remaining in Monday’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, Cam Thomas suffered an ankle injury. His X-rays revealed nothing and minimized the extent of the sprain. The 22-year-old, who averages 20.9 points per game on 44/36/84 shooting splits, is tied with Mikal Bridges as Brooklyn’s top scorer this season.

Ben Simmons was later reduced to questionable and then out of the Nets’ initial status report that was released on Thursday. Due to left leg pain, the three-time All-Star departed Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and did not come back. After playing for 14 minutes against Memphis, he missed Brooklyn’s next two games.

Simmons missed three months this year because of a similar issue in a different region, having missed the second half of the previous season owing to a nerve impingement in his back. Early in 2022–2023, the Australian also struggled with a number of left leg injuries. He had blood drawn and PRP injections for two extended periods of time that he missed because of a left knee injury, and he sat another extended stretch because of a left calf strain.

In 15 games this season, the former first choice has averaged 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 24 minutes per game.

During Thursday’s  Brooklyn evictory,nded a run of poor shooting performance, finishing with 32 assists, 10 turnovers, and a 47.8 percent three-point shooting percentage. With a victory on Saturday, Ollie’s team can cut the Hawks’ advantage for the 10th spot to two games while winning the tiebreaker.