Brook Lopez set for surgery
Brooklyn Nets' Brook Lopez is stopped by Cleveland Cavaliers' Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao as Lopez tries to go to the basket during the third quarter. (Oct. 30, 2013) Credit: AP
Brook Lopez is set for his third foot surgery in the last two-plus years.
The Nets announced Saturday that their 7-foot center will have surgery to repair the fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
Lopez, who's out for the remainder of the season, broke the bone for the third time in two years when he got tangled up with the 76ers' Thaddeus Young and came down awkwardly in the fourth quarter of the Nets' Dec. 20 overtime loss.
He was examined on Tuesday by the team's medical director, Dr. Riley Williams III, as well as Yankees team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad to see precisely what would be the best way to proceed in repairing the injury.
Although no specific recovery timetable has been given, the Nets hope to know more once the surgery has been completed. Before going down, Lopez was leading the Nets in scoring at 20.7 points per game despite missing nine games while battling a sprained left ankle.
Kirilenko makes trip
Andrei Kirilenko is with the team for its three-game trip, which also has stops in San Antonio and Oklahoma City, though coach Jason Kidd indicated Friday that he wouldn't make the trip.
Kirilenko hoped to play in one of the Nets' three home games this past week, but he couldn't overcome the back spasms that have forced him to sit out the last 26 games. He was on the court before Saturday night's game testing his fitness.
"He's working," Kidd said. "He's trying to get better and hopefully here we'll see if he can go. He was getting some work in this afternoon, so we'll see how the workout was and how he responds [Sunday]."
Blatche update
Kidd said Andray Blatche (out for personal reasons) "hopefully" will be back with the team after the road trip. "It's just personal, it's a team issue," Kidd said. "So no need to comment about it."
