Ben Simmons to play in tonight’s Sixers-Thunder game

Ben Simmons will return to action Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 76ers point guard being cleared to play came following being upgraded to questionable Monday morning after originally being listed out for the game in Sunday’s NBA injury report. Simmons missed the last four games with what coach Doc Rivers said Saturday was the flu.

However, Danny Green (left hip recovery) and Mike Scott (left hip soreness) will both miss the game at the Wells Fargo Center.

Tobias Harris (right knee recovery), Joel Embiid (right shoulder soreness), Furkan Korkmaz (sprained right ankle) and Paul Reed (health and safety protocol) were all cleared to play.

Simmons, a three-time All-Star, is averaging 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and 1.6 steals in 48 games this season. Simmons is a leading candidate for NBA defensive player of the year.

The illness forced him to miss last week’s key games against the Golden State Warriors (last Monday), the Phoenix Suns (Wednesday) and road games with the Milwaukee Bucks (Thursday and Saturday).

Simmons did not accompany the Sixers on the trip to Milwaukee for the two-game series.

In regard to how Simmons felt Saturday, Rivers said “not great but a lot better.” He said the first thing Simmons told him is that he felt stronger.

Rivers mentioned on Wednesday that Simmons had the flu when asked if Simmons would fly with the team to its two games against the Bucks. On Saturday, the coach was asked specifically if Simmons had the flu.

“I don’t know what it is,” Rivers said. “I’m assuming it’s the flu. Yeah, we’ve done other blood work, and that’s what it is. But it’s knocked it out, and it is what it is.”

The Sixers (39-21) are looking to snap a season-worst four-game losing streak. That shouldn’t be hard. The Thunder (20-40) are riding a 13-game losing streak.