In the Brooklyn Nets’ 102-101 win over the Heat on Sunday night, the team was without superstar Kevin Durant, who left the game in the third quarter with a right knee injury. On Monday, the team announced that Durant has sprained his right MCL and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Less than a year ago, Durant suffered an MCP sprain that kept him out for six weeks, But according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPNthere is optimism that he will miss less time due to knee problems.
The injury occurred late in the third quarter, when Heat guard Jimmy Butler fell on Durant’s lap after an attempted layup. Durant immediately started grabbing his right knee and stayed on the ground for a moment before limping back to the locker room. Not long after, Brooklyn ruled him out for the rest of the game. Here’s the game where the injury happened:
When Durant was absent last season, the Nets’ record was only 5 wins and 16 losses, including an 11-game losing streak, which shows the importance of Durant to this team. However, after losing Durant on Sunday night, the Nets pulled back from a nine-point deficit late in the fourth quarter for their 18th win in their past 20 games.
Kyrie Irving and others now have to make up for the 30 points KD provides each night. No one on the Nets can adequately fill Durant’s role, but with Durant set to be out for some time, Brooklyn has enough depth to at least partially make up for his lost production.