The Brooklyn Nets remain underfunded after announcing that Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge are out Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, and star James Harden is out of action.
The good news for Brooklyn is that Kyrie Irving is available to play after missing Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves while taking part in a family adventure.
The Nets are also without guard Chris Chiozza. Chiozza, who started on Tuesday in place of Irving, had hand surgery on Wednesday to repair a broken right finger. He was injured against the Timberwolves.
Harden remains offside with a straight hamster stalk and Tyler Johnson still has pain in his right knee.
Aldridge will not play for a non-COVID disease, and Griffin is on a day of managing a knee injury.
On Tuesday, Durant played 27 minutes against the Timberwolves, though the Nets’ advantage increased to 40 points. Nash said the Nets want to further increase their playing time to 30 minutes, but it is a “difficult balance”.
“He has to play a certain number of minutes to his advantage,” Nash said Tuesday. “At the same time, when the game is so out of control, do you think we want to risk being there at this point in the game? In an ideal world, he would play for about 30 minutes, but at the same time, he’s there. at the end of the game in a few minutes for no reason and you have to be careful too. We’re trying to find that balance. “
Durant said Tuesday that the increase in workload feels “good” and that he will establish his status by Wednesday after seeing his body recover and consulting with the team’s training staff.
Durant said the 76ers’ play, which competes with the Nets for first place in the Eastern Conference, was something the team looked forward to, but as a group, they were more focused on bringing the entire team together. After all, Nets’ Big 3 only played seven games together.
According to Elias Sports, the fewest games played together by any of the top three scorers in the regular season are 10 when Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant-Derek Fisher Lakers won in 2001. As of Wednesday, the Nets have only 17 games left in regular season.
“I think for us we want everyone to be healthy and fit in with what we do, and I think it’s as important as setting the schedule for the game in Philadelphia,” Durant said. “They are a great team, they are well prepared and I am sure it is a team that we will meet soon, but for us, at this moment, we want to continue to adjust what we do to improve the things that make us who we are and we will see what happens in the future “.