The Philadelphia 76ers just spent two games playing without Joel Embiid after the star big man was suspended for fighting with Karl-Anthony Towns. Now, they might have to spend some time without their other cornerstone. 

Ben Simmons left the Sixers’ game against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night with what the team deemed as “shoulder soreness.” Early in the first quarter, Simmons called for the ball in the post against Royce O’Neale. He caught the ball, faced up and tried to barrel his way into the paint with a spin move. As he did so, his shoulder went right into O’Neale’s chest, and he immediately winced and grabbed for it.

He went to the locker room to be evaluated, but returned to the court a short time later and checked back into the game. It was a short return to action, though, as the Sixers soon announced he was out for the remainder of the game. 

Later in the evening, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Simmons suffered a sprained AC joint in his shoulder. Simmons had an X-ray on Thursday, which came back negative, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Simmons will be evaluated further on Thursday, though the early results are clearly a positive for both Simmons and the Sixers.   

At this point, it’s unclear how long Simmons will be out, or if he’ll miss any games at all. We’ll know more after he’s re-evaluated leading up to Philadelphia’s contest against the Nuggets in Denver on Friday night. Even if the Sixers end up taking the cautious route and sit Simmons for a few games, it doesn’t seem like the issue should linger too longer. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on as the Sixers can’t afford any injury trouble considering their lack of depth.