Will Ben Simmons Play Tonight? Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat: Injury Updates, Lineups, and Game Prediction

The NBA is seeing a rise in games being postponed due to health and safety protocols. The Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers were recent victims of the coronavirus, and these two teams will now lock horns in their upcoming regular-season fixture. 

Venue: Wells Fargo Center

Time: 7:00 PM ET (January 12, 2021)

Miami was scheduled to take on Boston Celtics on Sunday, but their game was postponed due to COVID-19 complications. Likewise, the Sixers faced the same issue when they took on the Nuggets, but they took to the court with just seven available players and got battered. 

Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat – Injury Updates and Lineups

76ers

The Sixers are largely wounded by the unavailability of their players. Only nine of them took part in their recent loss to the Atlanta Hawks, and the team is being put in an unavoidable situation of missing games. 

As for their injury list, Seth Curry, Furkan Korkmaz, and Shake Milton are the ones deemed to be out for the upcoming game. Their prime starters are on a day-to-day watchlist and it includes Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Vincent Poirier, Terrance Ferguson, and Matisse Thybulle. 

These players on the day-to-day list are questionable for the game against Miami, but Simmons is expected to play after missing back-to-back fixtures due to a swelling in his left knee. 

Possible Lineup

Ben Simmons (G)

Tyrese Maxey (G)

Danny Green (F)

Mike Scott (F)

Joel Embiid (C) 

Heat

The Miami Heat saw their game being postponed, and they’re also plagued by health and safety issues. The team recently listed Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Goran Dragic as questionable for the next fixture, and this trio joined Kendrick Nunn, Maurice Harkless, Udonis Haslem, and KZ Okpal in the day-to-day list. 

Furthermore, Avery Bradley will be out against the Sixers, and there’s more worry in that regard. Meyers Leonard ( shoulder), Gabe Vincent (knee), and Kelly Olynyk (groin) are all probable for Tuesday’s game against Philadelphia. 

Possible Lineup

Tyler Herro (G)

Duncan Robinson (G)

Andre Iguodala (F)

Precious Achiuwa (F)

Bam Adebayo (C)

Prediction

The NBA’s health and safety protocols are massively affecting the game. Miami has just five players available from their 16-man roster, excluding the day-to-day list. If the players aren’t cleared in time, this game has a chance of being postponed too. 

But if it goes through with the Heat sporting the bare minimum of players required, there’s a chance that they’ll face an ugly defeat. Philly has already been on the receiving end in a similar situation. This will be their time to give back.

The Heat have most of their starters on the questionable list, hence, the Philadelphia 76ers have an edge to win this game and end their slump of suffering back-to-back defeats.