Although he’s not ruling out the possibility that Nets guard Kyrie Irving will be available for Game 5 vs. the Bucks, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (video link) suggested during a KJZ appearance on Monday morning that the team is bracing for Irving to miss at least that game, if not more, after spraining his ankle on Sunday.
With Irving and James Harden (hamstring) both potentially sidelined, the alarm bells are blaring for the Nets, who now find themselves in a 2-2 tie with Milwaukee, writes Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post. As Vaccaro notes, even if Irving and Harden are able to play again in this series, there’s no guarantee they’d be 100%, and ankle and hamstring injuries are easy to tweak.
Here’s more on the Nets:
- If Irving and Harden are out, Kevin Durant will bear the burden of trying to carry the Nets into the next round, as Ian O’Connor of The New York Post and Joe Vardon of The Athletic write in separate stories. Vardon compares the situation to LeBron James having to shoulder the load for the 2015 Cavaliers after Irving and Kevin Love went down with injuries.
- The Nets at least got some good injury news prior to Game 4 on Sunday when forward Jeff Green was cleared to return. However, head coach Steve Nash admitted after the game that he ended up having to play Green more than he anticipated — and more than he would’ve liked. “I think (with) Kyrie going down, we used his versatility to try different things,” Nash said of Green, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. “I’m proud of him for playing. He wasn’t supposed to play today — a couple days ago. For him to ratchet it up and get out there was great.”
- In a span of days, the Nets went from overwhelming title favorites to being in real danger of elimination in the second round, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, who says that Brooklyn is the latest club to “ram home” the point that winning a title in the NBA is extremely difficult.
- The Nets and Bucks had differing views on P.J. Tucker‘s defense on Durant after Game 4, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic writes. Nash referred to Tucker’s approach as “borderline non-basketball physical at times,” prompting Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer to respond, “He’s just guarding him. If that’s not basketball, I don’t know what is.”
Comparing Kevin Durant’s situation today to LeBron’s situation in 2015 is a bad look for KD. LeBron is a scoring facilitator, KD is a lethal scoring machine. Outside of Steve Nash figuring out how to get EVERYONE involved in the offense AND figuring out how to limit Giannis from destroying our interior defense and opening up guys like Tucker, the Nets are in DEEP trouble
Nash has himself to blame for overusing Green, Griffin, and Claxton. DeAndre Jordan is capable of giving some minutes to make Giannis work harder. Yes, the others are more versatile, but he can provide value.
What are you smoking? DJ is literally unplayable
Wow has it gotten that bad for Jordan now? Going to be rough for the Nets going forward then since he’s got 2 years left on his deal…he’ll also most likely be needed as salary filler in trades as well
DJ was Kyrie+KD tax, which they had to pay. Im sure there are no regrets
How has that “overuse” cost the Nets so far? Harden and KI got hurt because Jordan didn’t see some of Green, Griffin and Claxton’s minutes?
KD vs LeBron. Who had better in-prime teammates?
KD = Kyrie, Harden 2x, Westbrook, Ibaka, Draymond, Curry, Klay
LBJ = Kyrie, Love, Bosh, Wade, AD, and the GOAT Alex Caruso
WHERE is Joe Harris?! NOW is the time to show Sean Marks he made the right decision to give you a 4-year $75M contract. Most likely, James Harden AND Kyrie Irving will miss the rest of this series, especially Kyrie. Joe Harris, YOU are now the #2 scoring option. Steve Nash and Kevin Durant BET NOT fail to get this man 18 shots or more. Joe BETTER look to aggressively score the ball. We will lose in 6 without him stepping up his game to Playoffs’ level
A local talk show producer/host in Philly called it when he was evaluating the nets or bucks and who scared him more and they got to Joe Harris and he’s like ‘that’s a dude where I can see him going on some 1 for 17 or 2 for 17’ stretch from 3.
Thought Harris, Bertans, and Kenard were fools gold when they got those deals. Each should call their agent family from now on if they aren’t a blood relative.
Joe Harris isn’t fools gold lmao. He shot 47.5% on high volume attempts and has been great in the playoffs so far besides the last two games which were on the road.
14 points a game while shooting 47 percent from three and making 18 million a year is almost a bargain these days
Really??? Is this how much the quality has dropped?
No, the money in sports has exploded. Guys are making 50mill a year now. Everything is inflated so 18mill for a player like Joe Harris is seen as a bargain.
Anybody noticing a pattern with Irving and missing playoffs? He is my least favorite NBA player, and he has very few positive attributes as a dependable teammate. While he has incredible talent, he will never be a great one.