Quick Hitters

76ers rookie Ben Simmons won’t play this season

CAMDEN, N.J. — Ben Simmons won’t make his NBA debut this season.

His surgically repaired right foot hasn’t healed sufficiently for the No. 1 overall pick to play in the final 26 games, the team said Friday.

Simmons fractured the fifth metatarsal bone during the final training camp scrimmage in October and hasn’t played a game. A CT scan Thursday revealed his foot hasn’t fully healed.

“Unfortunately, Ben is going to sit out. That’s the bad news. The good news is one day he’ll put on a uniform,” 76ers President Bryan Colangelo said. “It’s not the way you want to start your career, but it happens. We’re not excited about the news today. Ben is heartbroken.”

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Australian was Philadelphia’s first No. 1 overall pick since Allen Iverson in 1996. Simmons was going to play point-forward.

“Nothing has changed with the plan and the vision,” Colangelo said. “The plan is to build and sustain a successful basketball program.”

Colangelo also said star center Joel Embiid will miss at least four games because of a bruised left knee that has sidelined him for 11 of the last 12 games.

“All signs are he is progressing well,” Colangelo said.

- Associated Press

Stars beat Coyotes

DALLAS — Jamie Benn scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the Dallas Stars beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 on Friday night.

Jordie Benn sent a long pass to his brother at the left side of the net. Jamie Benn took the puck behind the cage and scored on a wraparound before Arizona goalie Louis Domingue could move across to the right.

The Coyotes twice took a onegoal lead. Radim Vrbata scored in the first period and Martin Hanzal in the second on an assist from Vrbata.