-
Tim good morningESPN
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant will remain off the field until after the All-Star break due to a left hamstring strain suffered earlier this month, the team announced on Friday.
After a follow-up MRI, the Nets determined that Durant “will need an extra period of recovery,” which will keep him out of the All-Star break, which includes next month’s Atlanta All-Star game.
“While we are confident that Durant will return to his full potential, this extra recovery time will allow him to perform at the level he played this season once he returns,” the Nets said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Nets coach Steve Nash had said he expected Durant to return before the All-Star break.
“We’re just trying to monitor and be careful,” Nash said before the Nets defeated the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. “Certainly, we have slowed things down a bit in this regard: not to put any pressure on him, not to try to rush him in any capacity and just make sure we give him the right time to be more than healed, to be strong and conditioned to return to the team. “
The NBA later announced Friday that Indiana Pacers striker Domantas Sabonis has replaced Durant on the All-Star list, while Boston Celtics striker Jayson Tatum – as the highest striker in the Eastern Reserve – will replace him at the starting lineup. .
As of late Friday afternoon, there has been no official word from the NBA as to whether Durant will serve as captain with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. It is the first time since the NBA changed the formats from East to West for two captains to choose teams that one of them could not participate in the game.
Durant missed nine of Brooklyn’s last 10 games – three due to NBA health and safety protocols, after being pulled in the middle of Brooklyn’s loss to the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 5 due to following contact with someone who had a test positive coronavirus and then the last six games, after suffering a hamstring strain against the Golden State Warriors in a victory on February 13th.
The Nets have won eight games in a row – the longest winning streak in the NBA – and would face the Dallas Mavericks on ABC in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
After playing Dallas, the Nets have two more games before the break: in San Antonio against Spurs on March 1 and in Houston against James Harden’s old team, the Rockets, on March 3.
Durant, 32, has an average of 29 points, 5.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game this season.