Kevin Durant will miss at least two games after suffering a thigh injury, the Brooklyn Nets reported.
The team described the injury as minor, but said in a statement that Durant will be out of action on Monday, against the Sacramento Kings, and on Tuesday, against the Phoenix Suns, while undergoing treatment.
Last Saturday, Durant played for the first time in a week. He had been put on health and safety protocols on February 5, after having close contact with an employee of the team who tested positive for coronavirus. During training again seven days later and played 33 minutes in the victory over the Golden State Warriors.
The “Big Three” of the Nets made up of Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have played sideways in just seven games since Harden was traded to Brooklyn in mid-January. These seven games include a duel in February against the Toronto Raptors from which Durant was retired in the third period and placed in the league’s contact tracking protocol.
On Friday, Durant said he hoped to use the Nets’ five-game tour of the West Coast to do chemistry in pain with his new teammates. Now rookie coach Steve Nash has the job of modifying a roster that has already had 17 different lineups, the highest total in the league so far this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
After recovering from an Achilles tendon rupture that took him out of action all last season, he averaged 29 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game with Brooklyn. He has lost nine of the Nets ’28 games, which are 2-2 since they acquired Harden in a change in January.
DeAndre Jordan, who missed Saturday’s game for personal reasons, is labeled likely to come out of the Nets ’injury report for Monday’s game against the Kings.