On January 16, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, the Nets faced the Pelicans broke out a powerful offensive firepower, the team of six people scored in double figures, Harden was more efficient to cut the comprehensive data of 27 + 8 + 15, while the Pelicans only Ingram scored 20+ points, and finally the Nets won a big victory of 120-105, sweeping away the haze of the previous fiasco to the Thunder.
Although the victory was won, the Nets paid too much for this game. During a defensive break, Nets player Brown was knocked down by a Pelican player and subsequently collided with Durant's knee, causing the latter's knee to overextend. Although he tried to stay on the pitch, he then left straight away and returned to the dressing room. On Sunday, local time, the Nets officially updated Durant's knee MRI test results: KD suffered a sprain of the medial collateral ligament of his left knee and will be absent for a period of time for full recovery. According to ESPN, the Nets are optimistic inside that Durant will make a comeback after 4-6 weeks of rehabilitation. Previously, the Heat player Edmund also suffered a sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, when he was only absent for one to two weeks, so Durant's injury was not particularly serious, but as a player who suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, this small injury was better to be cautious and wait until he fully recovered, and the team was handed over to Dengo and Irving during this time.
However, it is a great pity for the majority of fans that with Durant's injury, he and James, the king of big and small, once again lost valuable hand-to-hand meetings. Because according to the schedule, the Lakers will challenge the Nets on January 26, Beijing time, when Durant is still recuperating from injury. On December 26, the Nets visited Los Angeles, KD was absent because of the trigger health and safety agreement, so this season is not to see the two major forwards playing. Since the 2018 Warriors lost to the Lakers at home in the Christmas game (that James left the court due to a left groin strain), James and Durant have not played each other for various reasons, which is a pity.
At present, the Nets' situation is still relatively difficult, the loss of the star of the home, not to mention, the next schedule is also hell level difficulty, the next 14 games 11 games are on the road, including the Nuggets, Warriors, Suns, Heat, Jazz and other strong opponents. But too many away games can greatly increase Irving's chances of playing, which may be the only good news for the Nets at the moment. During Durant's absence, Irving needs to take on more of the task of attacking the stronghold, and the team's defensive counterattack also needs him to drive, which is a heavy task.
Although the Nets are currently in second place in the East, this season they only have a record of 1 win and 7 losses when facing the top four teams in the East and West, and most of the seven losses are collapse, almost no ability to fight back, these losses directly label them as not being able to play hard battles. On January 30, Beijing time, the team will once again encounter the second Warriors of the league, the last time in the Barclays Center, the Nets were beaten by the Warriors in less than three quarters of the game, Harden and Durant can only silently watch Curry perform, and the home fans even shouted for Curry's MVP, the scene was once very embarrassing. The Warriors now have a return from Thompson, and the Nets don't have Durant's steady output, so the next meeting between the two sides may be the last laugh of the Warriors.