The league leading scorer will miss his first game of the season. Kevin Durant played in 35 of the 72 regular season games last season. He has played 16 games so far, close to half of his total 2021 season. However, Durant suffered a sprain on his shoulder in the Nov. 8 loss to the Chicago Bulls 95-118 and was prepared to miss a game in order to get his shoulder problems to heal.
But how serious is this? So far, that hasn't stopped him from competing in any races. He appeared in the Nets' next five games, but was caught on camera and sometimes braced on his shoulders. Now he won't play friday at home against Orlando.
Steve Nash said: "I just think it bothers him a bit and it's difficult to find a time for him to rest. In the back-to-back races, his shoulders were slightly uncomfortable and in a sense he rested here for four days, which was a positive opportunity for us. Unfortunately, it hurt the team tonight, but in the long run it will help us, so those are the decisions you have to make. ”
Durant joined a fairly formulaic load management project a year ago. We even asked him and James Harden (who so far ranked 9th and 13th in the league in playing time) to get a breather. Maybe the Nets' brass heard.
Irving's absence, combined with millsap, Harris and Nick Clarkston's recent absences, most of the scoring has to rely on Durant and Harden. So, is he tired of carrying too many scoring burdens?
The Nets head coach added: "No, I think we've been careful all the time. But we've had a couple of recent games where Durant hasn't played in the fourth quarter. So I guess we saved a few minutes here and there, but you know, the shoulders aren't something we want to stay for. So I think we seized this opportunity tonight. ”
Nash confessed: "I don't remember the images, there may have been images at first, but not today or yesterday. Let me put it this way: we're not worried that this will last or that he'll miss the next game. ”
Steve Nash was asked if there was a problem with Durant's shoulder that left him out of tonight's game.
Nash basically explained that because they have a few days between games, they feel it's a good time to give their superstar a four-day break (between last Wednesday's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers and next Monday's next game).
They may have had an MRI of the wound, which suggests it's at least more serious than we originally thought. Maybe the Nets want to rule out injuries like AC sprains, which could take weeks or even longer to fully recover. The good news is that it sounds like Brooklyn is perfectly looking forward to their top players coming back for Monday's game. It may not be a coincidence that Durant is resting against the Magic, who are currently 4-11 and at the bottom of the rankings.