When the Nets open the second half of the season on Thursday, they will not have Kevin Durant. And it sounds like they could be ahead of their superstar for a while longer.
Durant has already been banned from Thursday night’s game against the Celtics with the same hamstring injury that has cost him the previous nine games. And he won’t get more medical imaging until next week.
“Kevin is getting better, will have a scan next week and then we will assess him,” said coach Steve Nash. “But he hasn’t played in a month, so no matter what the scan says, there will still be an appropriate stepping stone to make sure we put him in a position to finish the season strong.”
Durant hasn’t played since February 14 due to a left hamstring strain. After a first scan wasn’t particularly clear, a second hinted to the Nets that this could be a long absence.
“I think when we got the second scan, we knew this was going to be longer,” said Nash. “The first scan, there was blood loss and the imaging was not that clear. So I think on the second scan we realized that this is the type of timeline we’re looking at.
‘And we will see: that can change. But we expected this to take a month or whatever it may be. So who knows? Who knows what the scan says? Who knows where this will take us and how soon he will be back. But I think when we got the second scan, we knew this was probably what we were looking at. “
Durant missed 18 months of rehab after rupturing his right Achilles tendon in June 2019, so the Nets are predictably careful to avoid problems that will persist for the rest of the season.
While Durant has returned to court activities, it is low impact and does not include running or any kind of full team work.
“He’s definitely not doing a five-on-five. He’s definitely not doing a full-length run, running at high speed. But he does a lot of half-court, tight shooting rhythm. But we’ll wait for the scan to escalate and take the next step, ”said Nash, adding that the Nets are only looking for improvement next week. ‘I honestly think I would see the injury heal. That is simple.
‘He’s been on court, he’s done a lot of work and just made sure it got the right healing response in the window we’ve had here. Theoretically, he had two weeks and a scan, and another two weeks and a scan. If it’s progressing in the right direction, that’s number 1. And [No. 2], is it completely healed? How much more can we predict before it will heal completely? But he’s already on the field, he’s already working individually and allows himself to escalate that rise when the scan gives us the right information. “
Durant has missed 18 games, almost half of the list so far. But the Nets find comfort not only in how good he looked, but also in the medical experts’ opinion that the hamstring injury is not compensatory or related to the Achilles tendon.
“No,” said Nash emphatically. “You never want to rule out compensatory patterns, because even if you can’t diagnose it, it might be part of something. But that’s kind of my point. By its history, by medical history and assessment, we don’t feel that these two are entirely related. And he’s doing really well now and we’re all very positive about the direction he’s going. But we just have to be very careful because he is a very important player for us. “