3:47pm: Durant is expected to miss around a month with the injury, Wojnarowski reports for ESPN.com.
10:50am: Nets star Kevin Durant suffered an MCL sprain in his right knee and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the team announced in a press release.
Nets officials are relieved by the diagnosis, which was the result of an MRI this morning, and there’s optimism that Durant will miss less time than he did last season when he was sidelined for six weeks with a similar injury, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Durant left Sunday’s game against the Heat in the third quarter after a collision with Jimmy Butler, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. After having his shot blocked, Butler fell backward into Durant’s knee (video link from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype). Durant tried to stay in the game, but he wasn’t able to move well and appeared to be massaging the knee to lessen the pain, Lewis adds.
“Those plays are scary, because when someone’s not looking with what’s going on anything can happen in those moments,” said Kyrie Irving, who came off the bench to help Durant to his feet. “So I’m grateful that all that time that he’s put in the weight room putting his body in a great position, his body was able to save from something worse. … With [Durant] we know what we’re up against with him not being in lineup. We can say it every single day, but we don’t have time for any excuses. We’ve just got to keep moving forward and stay mature about it.”
The Nets collapsed last year after Durant sprained his MCL in mid-January, Lewis notes. The team was fighting for the best record in the East before the injury, but lost 11 straight games and went 5-16 overall in his absence to wind up in the play-in tournament.
Durant has been playing at an MVP level this season, averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists as the Nets have moved into second place in the East. Brooklyn will play six games over the next two weeks, including Thursday’s showdown with the Celtics, so this will be a crucial stretch of the schedule until Durant can return.
Hopefully it is an injury that will allow him to back to 100% around All-Star break.
Firing Steve Nash, and replacing him with Jacque Vaughn has this team back from the dead.
This guy continues to put an exclamation point on his status as one of the greatest players of his generation.
Gimme a break! They have underperformed with KD and got swept in the first round!
KD and Kyrie havent achieved anything as Nets thus far that deserves any legacy worthy praise.
1. Didnt want to play for Atkinson and Vaughn.
Was pissed that Atkimson would play Allen over their friend Jordan.
2. Got rid of Allen, Levert, Prince, Diwiddie, etc to get their OWN players.
3. Acquired Harden because they didnt have confidence they could win on their own.
4. Trade request and on and on.
Nothing but drama and blaming others instead of taking ownership. KD has a long way to go to get respect and win over his fans. In the meantime, Warriors won another title already.
As a Nets fan, I hate that I agree with this.
Did you read the part where I said since “firing Steve Nash”???????
Brooklyn was dead in the water. Since the firing, they have been good. KD has been sensational on BOTH ends of the floor.
I wasn’t giving a history lesson on the Brooklyn franchise. Again …. Since “firing Steve Nash” ……
It just means KD and Kytie were trying to get Nash fired. Do you really think Vaughn is some genius coach? It was kd anf kyrie who didnt want to play for Vaughn 3 yrs ago, but Nash was the one who decided to retain Vaughn as an assistant. Nets had their good moments with Nash too last 2 yrs. Firing Nash is reasonable in nba, but kd blaming evrything on him is no class to say the least.
Entering the season, you’d look at the Nets and say that they can’t rely on KD to stay healthy or for Irving to not be a huge distraction. Both happened, again.
Until this injury Durant had only missed 1 game and might miss 6-8 more because of it while the only “distraction” Kyrie caused was an overreaction from the media, the league and ownership.
“Until this injury” doesn’t work that way with the guy now injured for an extended period.
When I wrote the response they said two weeks.
Yeah sharing misinformation about the Holocaust not being real is totally an overreaction, gtfo.
I don’t know how “crucial” this stretch is. If Durant is healthy by May the Nets have a shot.
I hope so, but my gut says they don’t. Simmons was and is the X-factor, but he looks like a shell of his former self.
I am Celtics fan, and the Bucks and the Nets are the only teams that concern me.
I agree. Celtics, Bucks and Brooklyn are the class of the East. Celtics have the best chemistry.
Keep an eye on Mason Plumlee from Charlotte with the Celtics. He is cheap ($9 million) and on an expiring deal. Double-Double every night for Charlotte. He also grew up in rural Indiana, and Brad Stevens knows the family very well. Charlotte is starting to give rookie Mark Williams more minutes. Plumlee would be a nice add to the Celtic frontcourt rotation.
As a Warriors fan I will always have lots of love for Durant. It’s better for the game for him to be playing. Hope he heals up fast.
I was also rooting for him in Brooklyn, but got fed up with their drama especially when he requested a trade. He’s a quitter! He needs to get to Finals this yr or his 4 yrs as a Net was a total failure.
Thus far, Nets are not doing anything special. They also had their momenta in the regular season 2 yrs ago and last yr as well, only to collapse with drama and injuries. KD and Kyrie have totally underperformed and failed to meet any expectations when they signed 4 yr FA contracts. No nba titles, no finals, no conference finals….. ONLY lousy 1 playoff series win. Long way to go for KD to rid of cant win without Curry label.
Hopefully they give Cam Thomas a chance. Thomas could be their 6th man guy. I know his defense and passing skills aren’t very good but the dude can score anywhere on the court. Reminds me of Isaiah Thomas while on the Celtics
Just get healthy KD. Just get right.
Nets going to need scoring with KD out. Kyrie better learn to play with Ben. We’ll see how Nets endure.
The Nets were always paper thin…
Dude was ballin….the Nets were ballin….too bad….just like AD with the Lakers….