The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Miami Heat 119-104 Wednesday night on the road in the Kaseya Center. LA was led by the newly acquired Bogdan Bogdanovic who contributed a season-high 30 points on 68.8% with 10 rebounds; this was his highest points scored in a game dating back to Mar. 30th, 2024 when he was with the Atlanta Hawks.
This scoring outburst was much needed for the Clippers since six-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard was out for the second leg of a back-to-back due to injury management. Los Angeles was also without three-time All-Star Ben Simmons, who recently signed after his buyout with the Brooklyn Nets.
Simmons has missed the last seven games due to inflammation in his left knee, and while he didn't originally travel with the team for the full three-game road trip (via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints), Los Angeles released some encouraging news ahead of Friday's matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.
Los Angeles announced Thursday that Simmons has been upgraded to questionable for the contest in Atlanta.
Ben Simmons has been upgraded to QUESTIONABLE for tomorrow's game vs the Hawks.
Norman Powell remains out for the Clippers.
Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Ivica Zubac all unlisted and expected to play
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 13, 2025
In 33 games with the Nets this season, the former No. 1 pick out of LSU averaged 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game in 25.0 minutes. Simmons has been praised for his ability to push the pace for LA in transition as well as supply some defensive versatility.
The Clippers are in quite the battle to reach the sixth seed in the Western Conference and avoid the Play-In Tournament. LA currently sits in eighth place, just two games behind the Golden State Warriors for the sixth seed. With just 16 games remaining, the Clippers will welcome back Simmons with open arms as they try to climb as high as they can before the regular season comes to a close.
Related: Clippers Make Kawhi Leonard Announcement After Three Straight Games
Related: Ty Lue Announces Ben Simmons Update After Lakers Game
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This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 12:54 AM.