Brooklyn Nets star forward Kevin Durant went down during Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat after Jimmy Butler rolled over on his right knee during a drive to the lane.
Durant remained in the game for a bit, but was sent straight back to the locker room after a Nets injury timeout. He was almost immediately ruled out for the remainder of the game. Despite this, the Nets were able to win their 18th game in the team’s past 20 tries.
Brooklyn now also seemingly has some good news on the Kevin Durant injury front. The team announced on Monday that he suffered a sprained MCL in the right knee and will be evaluated again in two weeks.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski goes on to report that there’s “optimism Durant will miss less time than he did with a six-week absence last season.”
Given how the injury looked, this has to qualify as good news for the streaking Nets. Though, they’re now going to be without an NBA MVP candidate for at least the foreseeable future.
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Kevin Durant injury and impact on the Brooklyn Nets
KD has missed just one game this season. That came back on Dec. 10 with Brooklyn defeating the Indiana Pacers.
During Durant’s six-week absence last season, Brooklyn posted a disastrous 5-16 record. Overall, the team was 8-19 in games Durant missed compared to 36-19 when he actually suited up. There’s good reason for this. Even at 34 years old, Durant remains a dominating force.
- Kevin Durant stats (2022-23): 29.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 5.3 APG, 56% shooting
Given the two-week timeline for reevaluation, Durant is slated to miss at least the following games.
- Boston Celtics (Jan. 12)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (Jan. 15)
- @ San Antonio Spurs (Jan. 17)
- @ Phoenix Suns (Jan. 19)
- @ Utah Jazz (Jan. 20)
- @ Golden State Warriors (Jan. 22)
Unfortunately, this includes games against Kevin Durant’s former Thunder and Warriors teams. He can’t be too happy about that.
There’s also a chance Brooklyn plays this close to the vest by resting KD until it returns home against the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 26.