ORLANDO, Fla. _ Suddenly, the outcome of 76ers' game against the Washington Wizards no longer mattered.
The Sixers' championship hopes could have a lot to do with how Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris perform in the upcoming postseason.
But Simmons left the third quarter of Wednesday's 107-98 win against the Washington Wizards at The Arena with a left knee injury and did not return.
Simmons grabbed an offensive rebound with 5 minutes, 53 seconds left the third quarter. He dribbled to the corner before throwing an outlet pass to Al Horford. The two-time All-Star then flexed his left leg, grabbed his hamstring and walked off the court. He gingerly walked back to the locker room, followed by general manager Elton Brand.
The team would only say that the knee injury was being evaluated. Yahoo Sports reported that Simmons didn't experience any swelling or pain in his knee. This was his third game back after missing the final eight games before the NBA shutdown in March with a pinched nerve in his lower back.
On Wednesday, Simmons had eight points on 2-of-10 shooting to go along with six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two turnovers in 22 minutes, 55 seconds.
The Sixers moved Simmons from point guard to power forward during the restart. Shake Milton became the full-time starting point guard in the process. Simmons looked good in his new role in three preseason games but struggled on the defensive end in the Sixers' first two seeding games.
On Monday, Simmons recorded eight points and five assists, but he never got into the flow because of foul trouble. Simmons fouled out with 2:12 remaining.
It appeared that things would be better for him early in Wednesday's game.
There's been discussion about Simmons not attempting a 3-pointer after making 1 of 2 in the Sixers' scrimmage opener against the Memphis Grizzlies on July 24. Well, it didn't take long for him to hoist one Wednesday.
His second shot attempt of the game was a missed 23-foot corner 3-pointer 1 minute, 39 seconds into the contest.
Simmons handled the ball more as a point-forward against the Wizards. That led him to being more active. He attempted two of the Sixers' first four shot attempts en route to scoring five points on 2-of-6 shooting in the first quarter. The Australian only had six total shots on Monday versus the Spurs.
On Wednesday, Philly went into the second quarter leading 26-20 after Milton's 3-pointer before the first-quarter buzzer.
But at the 5:14 mark of the second quarter, Simmons showed why he's at his best with the ball in his hands. The 6-foot-10, 250-pounder had a mismatch with 6-foot former Sixer Ish Smith guarding him. Simmons backed Smith up, drove the lane and fired a pass to a wide-open Josh Richardson, who buried a 3-pointer to put the Sixers ahead 41-36.
Philly went on to build a 10-point cushion before Jerome Robinson buried a 3-pointer before the buzzer to cut their lead to seven (54-47). The Sixers (41-27) went on to win by nine points.
Embiid had game highs of 30 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Harris had 17 points. Richardson finished with 15 points and Milton had 14.
Like the Sixers' first two opponents, the Wizards are missing major contributors. All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal is out with a minor rotator cuff injury, standout reserve forward Davis Bertans opted to sit out the NBA restart, while reserve guard Garrison Matthews did not travel with the Wizards for personal reasons.
Sixers reserves Mike Scott (right knee soreness) and Glenn Robinson (left hip pointer) missed their third consecutive games with injuries. Both players participated in pregame warmups and looked good knocking down shots.
Kyle O'Quinn was back with the Sixers after receiving a negative COVID-19 test on Tuesday. The reserve center was ineligible for Monday's game against the San Antonio Spurs due to missing his test on Sunday. The NBA players are tested for COVID-19 daily.
The Sixers' next game is Friday against the Orlando Magic at HP Field House.
