Sixers’ Ben Simmons out, Tobias Harris doubtful against the Hawks

The 76ers not only lost their sixth straight road game in Saturday’s 119-98 defeat in Milwaukee, but they also saw two starters suffer injuries.

Ben Simmons has already been declared out with a back injury for Monday’s game at the Wells Fargo Center against the Atlanta Hawks, while Tobias Harris is listed as doubtful with a right knee contusion.

Simmons, who missed Thursday’s 112-104 overtime win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets with lower back tightness, returned to the lineup briefly against Milwaukee.

Against the Bucks, Simmons irritated his lower back on a layup with 8 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first quarter. He stayed in the game and later made a foul shot at the 7:21 mark. However, he subbed himself out of five seconds later.

Simmons played less than five minutes in the game.

He went through an initial evaluation on Sunday, which consisted of an MRI. Another additional evaluation will come on Monday. The team expects to update his status after the additional evaluation.

Simmons, who is averaging 16.7 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds, will be missing his fourth game this season. In addition to being sidelined in Thursday’s win over Brooklyn, he missed two games in November with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder.

Harris hurt his knee against the Bucks, but was able to stay in the game. He ended up playing 30 minutes, 55 seconds, and scored 11 points (3-for-10 shooting) while grabbing five rebounds. He had a game-worst minus-28 rating.

Since being acquired on Feb. 6, 2019 from the Los Angeles Clippers. Harris has only missed one game with the Sixers. That was a meaningless final game of the regular season a year ago, when the Sixers rested all starters.

Harris has been a recent model of durability. He has played 80 or more games in each of the past three seasons. This season he is averaging 18.9 points and 6.8 rebounds.

It will be interesting who coach Brett Brown will start against a Hawks team that is just 17-41, but has won four of its last seven.

When Simmons was sidelined against Brooklyn, Raul Neto started at point guard and played 28 minutes. Neto only played six minutes against Milwaukee.

Shooting guard Josh Richardson could move to point guard and possibly Shake Milton or newcomer Alec Burks could start.

No matter who starts in the backourt, a key will be defending second-year all-star Trae Young, who is averaging 35.8 points in his last five games and scored a career-high 50 points in Thursday’s 129-124 win over visiting Miami.

As for Harris, if he is unable to go, the Sixers could return Al Horford to the starting lineup or use Mike Scott, who has only played 16:51 in the past three games. If Brown chooses to go with a smaller starting lineup, he could use wings Matisse Thybulle or Furkan Korkmaz.

The Sixers (35-22) saw their four-game winning streak snapped at Milwaukee. They are 9-20 on the road, but are 26-2 at home.