Kevin Durant was ruled out for Tuesday’s game in New Orleans with a left thigh in the incredible loss in Miami. Yet there are at least some favorable signs that the injury may not be as severe or long-term.
The Nets did not practice on Monday, but after Durant was re-evaluated that morning, the team apparently did not think his injury was serious enough to justify any image or to send him back to New York. Sources told The Post that he is still on the road with the team, which can be seen as encouraging.
Injuries have become a running Nets storyline. James Harden (right thigh muscle), Tyler Johnson (knee pain), Chris Chiozza (broken right hand) and Spencer Dinwiddie (ACL) were all injured. The young big men, Nic Claxton and Reggie Perry, will also postpone the Pelicans game due to health and safety protocols.
Harden would practice Monday, and Steve Nash said the guard needs a few more high-intensity exercises before he can return. The Nets have rugby in New Orleans and in Tampa’s Amalie Arena against the Raptors. As for Claxton and Perry, “health and safety protocols” are a light print for COVID-19 issues, sometimes positive tests, but more often contact detection.
Durant missed 18 months with a broken Achilles who played in the NBA Finals for Golden State in June 2019. He also contracted COVID-19, handled quarantine contact detection in January and February, and eventually missed 23 games in a row with a left thigh muscle.
After returning on April 7, Durant played just five games – on April 14 in Philadelphia on the back of a back-to-back – before suffering his latest injury. He was forced out of the Miami game after just 4:03 when he was committed by Trevor Ariza and accidentally took a knee to the thigh of the Heat veteran.
“I think we are all relieved, it was just a contusion. I think it’s going to be a daily thing, ” Jeff Green said of Durant. ‘I know he’s been happening regularly for the last few weeks and he wants to play there. I’m sure he’s going to do everything he has to do to get back on the floor.
‘You hate to see a man come down, but you have to focus on what we have to achieve to put ourselves in a good position by the end of the season. So, James, hopefully he’s come back soon, and hopefully KD has a quick recovery on the contusion, and then everyone to be healthy. It’s just a matter of when. And when they come back, we have to prepare ourselves for what’s going to be next, whether it’s ten games at the end of the season or a playoff game. ‘