Nets superstar Kevin Durant suffered a knee injury against the Pelicans, and according to ESPN reporter Adrian Warnaroski, Kevin Durant suffered an MCL sprain after undergoing an MRI, while Durant needed to miss the Nets for the next 4-6 weeks, as for the Nets have not given a specific recovery schedule for Durant:
This is certainly not good news for the Nets, after all, Durant still has a regular season MVP-level data performance so far this season, and this is the key to the Nets' current record. So after Durant's injury, which players can the Nets rely on on the court to help the team continue to win?
James Harden is certainly the most important player on this issue. In addition, Kyrie Irving, one of the big three, even though Irving may still only play away games, if he can help the Nets to win away games steadily, this is also a clear help to the team's record.
In addition to Harden and Irving, another key player believes that Cameron Thomas, as the first round pick of 2021, Thomas has been able to cash in on his talent so far this season, so in Durant's absence and he can get more playing time, what Thomas needs to do is continue to play on the court that can cut 15 to 20 points on the offensive end, of course, he still needs to continue to play steadily on the defensive end.
So what kind of performance the Nets can play next depends largely on the rotation arrangement of head coach Steve Nash, and if Nash wants to keep the record, then he may let Harden and Irving have higher playing time. But if Nash wants to give Harden and Irving reasonable playing time, then the rest of the Nets' players will likely get an increase in playing time.
Regardless, the Nets need to address the question of how the team moves forward in Durant's absence.