On January 17, Beijing time, in yesterday's game against the Pelicans, Nets star Kevin Durant withdrew due to injury, and only played 12 minutes, And Durant limped on the way back to the locker room, which was very worrying. Previously, it was reported that Durant's injury did not look serious, but the truth did not sound optimistic. Today, the MRI results speak for themselves, with Kevin Durant diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and expected to miss 4-6 weeks, according to the Nets' official news.
The good news is that Durant is not reimbursed for the season, this season can still return, the bad news is that Harden and Irving's playing time will increase significantly, the probability of injury between the two will be greatly improved, after all, Irving has just returned not long ago, and both are seriously injured players, last season, Irving and Harden have been injured, which directly led to the Nets being eliminated by the Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Nash announced yesterday that Harden's playing time will increase after Durant's injury, and so far this season, he has averaged third in the league.
Although Durant is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks, from the Nets' point of view, the Grim Reaper may even be absent for a longer time, because without a complete guarantee that Durant will be able to return to the game with a 100% healthy posture, it is believed that the Nets will not easily let him return, this season, their goal is to win the championship, without Durant, it will all become empty talk, because he is the gene of this Brooklyn team to win the NBA championship. Durant averaged 29.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game this season, shooting 52.0 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three-point range.
Currently on the scoring list, Durant is still ranked first in the league and is one of the biggest contenders for MVP. However, with the arrival of injuries, the Nets' record may decline by a certain extent, and Durant's probability of winning the MVP will gradually decline. Fortunately, in 11 of the next 14 games, the Nets will be on the road, with Irving able to play alongside Harden and Aldridge and Clarkston returning. Durant's injury, Nash played an important role in it.
In yesterday's game, he directly let Durant play a full 12 minutes in the first quarter, and before this game, Durant averaged 37.2 minutes per game, ranking second in the league. Durant is a badly injured player, and Nash is using him as an iron man, which is really incomprehensible. The most fundamental reason is that Nash is afraid that the team's record will become worse, and he will be dismissed, so he can only Durant and Harden, and let the two superstars play more to help the team win to keep his coaching position.