With Kevin Durant sidelined, Joe Harris returns to starting lineup for Nets
Nets forward Joe Harris puts up a shot ahead of Celtics guard Derrick White in the first half of an NBA game at Barclays Center on Thursday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Joe Harris is back in the starting lineup.
Some 90 minutes before the Nets-Celtics tipped off at the Barclays Center Thursday night, coach Jacque Vaughn announced that Harris would start in place of the injured Kevin Durant.
Durant is expected to miss at least a month with an MCL sprain in his right knee. It’s not known how long Harris will be replacing him in the starting lineup.
Harris averaged 14.1 points in 2020-21, his last full season as a fulltime starter. After injuring his ankle in November last season, Harris underwent two surgeries and did not play again until the second game of this season
Harris, who has been in and out of the starting lineup usually in place of Ben Simmons, is averaging 7.9 points and 2.8 rebounds this season. In his 19 starts, the has averaged 10.3 points and 3.1 rebounds.
T.J. Warren, is the Nets’ fourth-leading scorer, averaging 9.9 points while playing 19.9 minutes. Warren, however, missed most of the last two seasons because of a foot injury suffered when he was with the Pacers and Vaughn said he wanted to continue to be careful with his minutes.
“Ideally it wouldn’t fit,” Vaughn said when asked about the possibility of Warren starting. “It’s gonna be a balance. You can take these clues like you want to. You’ve gotta think about the fact Kyrie [Irving] is not gonna play 12 minutes in a row like Kevin did in the first quarter, so you’ve gotta have someone who can score when Kai’s on the bench, also. T.J. can do that. So then you want to have Ben as a facilitator, have Ben push the pace for us.”
Vaughn, however, didn’t wait long to bring Warren off the bench. In the first quarter, he scored seven points and played 7:57.
NOTES AND QUOTES: The Nets requested waivers on two-way guard Alondes Williams. They also recalled Kessler Edwards and Day’Ron Sharpe from their NBA G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, ahead of Thursday’s game.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
