Ben Simmons had epidural earlier this week

Steve Nash told reporters before the Nets' game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday that Ben Simmons had an epidural while the team was in Orlando.

Simmons, who was acquired by the Nets in the James Harden trade, has been dealing with back soreness, and the Nets hope the injection will jumpstart his return.

"The idea being to try to accelerate his recovery and take some of the irritation down, so hopefully that'll help and relieve some of the symptoms and be able to recover quicker and accelerate that process," Nash said on Wednesday.

Simmons has had back soreness since late February. ESPN reports that Simmons has been dealing with irritation of the L-4 disc in his lower spine, and the Nets hope he can return before the regular season ends. Nash, however, said he has no update on Simmons' timetable and will wait and see how he reacts to the epidural.

"Then [we will] make a plan on it," he said.

Despite the injury, Nash said surgery has not been thought of as an option.

"I don't think anyone's even talked about a procedure. That will be a way-down-the-line scenario," he said. "We expect him back at some point."