The Brooklyn Nets continue to be under-controlled. They announced that Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge will go out on Wednesday night against the 76ers, in addition to the fact that the star James Harden will remain in the game.
The good news for Brooklyn is that Kyrie Irving is available to play after missing Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves while dealing with a family issue.
The Nets are also without guard Chris Chiozza. Chiozza, who started on Tuesday in place of Irving, underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a fractured right finger. He was injured against the Timberwolves.
Harden continues to be eliminated with a straight hamster stalk, and Tyler Johnson is still working through his right knee pain.
Aldridge is suffering from a non-COVID-19 disease, and Griffin is in a day of injury management with an ongoing knee problem.
On Tuesday, Durant played 27 minutes against the Timberwolves – even though the Nets lead reached 40 points. Coach Steve Nash said the Nets want to further increase their playing time to 30 minutes as they return from a basket injury, but it is a “complicated balance”.
“He has to play a certain amount of minutes for his benefit,” Nash said Tuesday. “At the same time, when the game is no longer available, are you caught, for example, do we want to risk being there at this point in the game? In an ideal world, he would play for almost 30 minutes, but at the same time, he is there at the end of the game in a few meaningless minutes – you want to be careful too. We are trying to find that balance. “
Durant said Tuesday that the increase in workload feels “good” and that he will set his status by Wednesday after seeing his body recover and checking in with the team’s training staff.
“I felt the wind and my feet go under me every minute I played, and that’s the most – I really wanted to get out of this moment,” Durant said.
Durant said the Nets are looking forward to facing the 76ers, who play with the Nets for No. 1 spot. 1 in the Eastern Conference, but are more focused on bringing the whole team to the floor together. After all, the Nets’ big three played only seven games together.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the fewest games played together by the top three scorers of any NBA champion in the regular season are 10, when Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant-Derek Fisher Lakers won in 2001. After Wednesday, the Nets will have remained only 17 games in the regular season.
“I think for us we want to make everyone healthy and used to what we do there, and I think it’s just as important as surrounding the timeline for Philly,” Durant said. “I am a great team, well trained and I am sure that a team that we will meet soon, but for us, at this moment, we want to continue to adjust well what we do to improve in things that make us what we are and we will see what happens on the line. “