Du Shao injury experts remain optimistic: Nets don't need to worry about rankings He withdrew from the MVP competition but the championship hopes are still there

Kevin Durant's injury was diagnosed with a sprain of the medial collateral ligament of the left knee and will be absent for 4-6 weeks. ESPN data analysis expert Kevin Pelton wrote an article on the impact of the injury on Durant himself, the Nets and the league. From Pelton's interpretation, he is very optimistic about the prospects for Durant and the Nets.

Since James Harden joined the Nets, the Nets Big Three have played in only 10 of the 101 regular season games. Among them, the Nets have 66 games led by the two giants, and 23 games are led by the single giants.

It's a shame that the Nets' big three rarely play together, but the Nets have also gained a lot of experience to cope with the absence of one of the stars. Regardless of how much Kyrie Irving can play away from home for the Nets, as long as Harden is there, the Nets have the hope of winning. When Harden single giant led the team to the game, the Nets lost 7-4.

If Durant can return before the All-Star Game, even if Irving can't play at home, the Nets still have 10 away games to adjust the rotation and establish the lineup. The talent and experience of the Big Three are there, and the Nets don't need to worry about the run-in problem of the three, they just need to figure out how to match the lineup around the Big Three.

The Nets don't need to worry much about the rankings right now, with the Eastern Conference in a mess, with the Nets only 0.5 wins behind the Bulls in the East, and the Bulls 2.5 wins ahead of the Cavaliers and Philadelphia. If the Bulls regress because of Zach Lavin's injury record, the Nets have a chance to stay in at least the top two in the East. The Nets don't have to worry about falling into the playoff zone, and they're 4.5 wins ahead of the Hornets, who are no.7 in the East, making them relatively safe.

What's more, if Irving continues to refuse to be vaccinated and cannot play at home, it will not make much sense for the Nets to have home-court advantage. For the Nets, it may be the most ideal scenario to fall to the 3rd place in the East, with the home advantage in the first round to play relatively stronger opponents, but then get the "away advantage" in the game. Regardless of how the Nets' regular season rankings change next, the Nets don't have to let Durant make a hasty comeback.

The injury should not have much impact on Durant's state, durant suffered the same injury in 2017, he returned after missing 19 games, played a super high true shooting rate of 68.3% in the playoffs, and averaged 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists per game in the finals against LeBron James, and personally won the Finals MVP.

Durant was injured at the end of February in 2017, and when he returned to the regular season there was little left. This time Durant was injured on Jan. 16, and by the time he returns, he'll have plenty of time to adjust. However, considering that since Bill Walton in 1976-77, no player has missed more than 11 games but won the regular season MVP, Durant has basically withdrawn from the MVP battle. There are multiple candidates in the MVP scramble this season, and Durant is struggling to win after his attendance plummets.

Fortunately, Durant's hopes of winning the championship and winning the FMVP are still there, and short-term injury suspension will not affect his pursuit of more ambitious goals.