YOUpdate: Durant is now listed as doubtful and Kyrie Irving is out with a finger injury.
The Sixers don’t seem to have to deal with Kevin Durant tonight after the Nets superstar had the weirdest experience yet in this weird NBA season on Friday.
Minutes before tip-off in the national television Nets Raptors contest, Durant was removed from the starting lineup because he came in contact with someone who had registered an unconvincing COVID test earlier in the day. While the Nets and the NBA awaited the test of the test, Durant put out.
Then he goes on at the end of the first term, for the first time in his career he comes off the bench.
Early in the third quarter, Durant picked up his fifth offense and bumped Kyle Lowry as the two chased a loose ball. Nets head coach Steve Nash did not want his best player in bad trouble with 21 minutes of play left, and challenged the game and won. Durant went back to four fouls, but moments later a staff member from Nets approached him on the bench and said the league had intervened and he had to miss the rest of the game.
Durant was not happy, shook his head and later shot a few sharp tweets.
“Durant was initially kept out of the game while the result was reviewed,” the league said in a statement Friday night. “According to the league’s health and safety protocols, we do not have to quarantine a player before a close contact has a positive test.”
Durant did not travel to Philly tonight and eventually lost more time. He contracted the coronavirus in March last year, and according to ESPN, he was still registering antibodies in January when he missed three games due to contact detection.
“I do not understand the whole thing where he could not play, then he came on the court and then they took him back,” said teammate James Harden. “There’s just a lot going on. There’s too much going on. It’s quite overwhelming. We’m in the middle of a tough game, and these games are going to pick up, especially when we talk about the playoffs. It’s overwhelming. This is frustrating.
“He feels the same way. Especially because he already had it, we are tested every day. He was negative. I do not understand what the problem is. The game had to be postponed, I feel like. we’re talking about contact tracing, he was with all of us. So I do not understand why he may not play, then he may play, and then be taken back from the court. If that was the case, we should have postponed the match. ‘
Sixers-Nets set for 20:00 The Sixers want to bounce back after a missed chance against a Blazers team on Thursday without Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Joel Embiid and Seth Curry are doubtful to play, while Ben Simmons is likely after sitting out with calf density on Thursday.