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Tim BontempsESPN
The Kevin Nant forward, Brooklyn Nets, will stay out until after the All-Star break due to a left thigh muscle he had earlier this month, the team announced on Friday.
After a follow-up MRI, the Nets determined that Durant “needs an additional recovery period” that will keep him going through the All-Star interruption. which includes next month’s All-Star Game in Atlanta.
“While we are confident Durant will return at full strength, this extra recovery time will allow him to perform at the level he played this season as soon as he returns,” the Nets said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Nets coach Steve Nash said he expected Durant to return before the All Star interruption.
“We’re just trying to be careful,” Nash said before the Nets beat the Sacramento Kings. “We have definitely slowed things down in this regard: do not put pressure on him, do not try to chase him back in any capacity and just make sure we give him the right time to be more than healed, to be strong and conditioned to get back to the team. ‘
It was immediately unclear whether Durant, who was named captain of the All-Star Game, would remain in charge of selecting players for one of the teams, although he did not play in the match. This is the first time that one of the captains can not play in the match, as the league has changed the format from East against West to two captains who have chosen their respective teams.
Durant has missed nine of Brooklyn’s last ten games – three due to NBA health and safety protocols, after being pulled halfway through Brooklyn’s loss to the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 5 due to contact with someone who had a positive test, and then the last six games after suffering a hamstring injury on February 13 against the Golden State Warriors in a win.
The Nets have won eight games in a row – the longest current winning streak in the NBA – and will face the Dallas Mavericks on ABC in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
After playing Dallas, the Nets have two more games before halftime: in San Antonio against the Spurs on March 1 and in Houston against James Harden’s old team, the Rockets, on March 3.
Durant, 32, averaged 29 points, 5.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game this season.