Sunday night, the team lost superstar Kevin Durant during the Brooklyn Nets’ 102-101 win over the Heat. On Monday, the team announced that Durant has suffered a right MCL sprain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Less than a year ago, Durant suffered a sprain in his MCP that kept him out for six weeks. But according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowskithere is optimism that this knee problem will result in him missing less time.
The injury occurred at the end of the third quarter when heat guard Jimmy Butler landed on Durant’s knee after falling from a layup attempt. Durant immediately started grabbing his right knee and stayed on the ground for a while before eventually limping back into the locker room, shortly after Brooklyn ruled him out for the rest of the game. Here are the plays in which injuries occurred:
Last season without Durant, the Nets were just 5-16, including an 11-game losing streak. This shows how important Durant is to this team. But after losing Durant on Sunday night, the Nets managed to pull off a win after falling nine points on him late in the fourth quarter, giving him his 18th win in the last 20 games.
The likes of Kyrie Irving will need to make up for the 30 points KD provides each night.The Nets don’t have a single person who can adequately fill Durant’s role, but Durant ended up being sidelined for a short period of time. Now Brooklyn has enough depth to at least partially make up for his losses in production.
