Nets lose Kevin Durant to injury again, this time strained hamstring
Kevin Durant #7 of the Nets celebrates his three point shot in the second quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Barclays Center on February 5, 2021. Credit: Getty Images/Elsa
The Nets’ season-long roller-coaster ride took another precipitous dip Sunday night when the team announced that forward Kevin Durant has been diagnosed with a mild left hamstring strain and "will miss at least the next two games while he receives treatment."
Durant missed three games last week while in quarantine as a result of COVID-19 contact tracing, but he returned Saturday night at Golden State to play in the Nets’ dominant 134-117 victory over his former team. That marked only the sixth time since the Nets acquired James Harden that the Big 3 of Harden, Durant and Kyrie Irving had played together.
That was the first of a five-game West Coast trip for the Nets (16-12) that continues Monday in Sacramento and Tuesday in Phoenix.
The hope was that the Nets’ three superstars might play together consistently to build chemistry. "You know, that might be the kiss of death to say ‘Oh, yeah, here we go, everything’s going be smooth sailing from here on out,’ " coach Steve Nash joked when asked about that opportunity."Obviously, that’s what we’re hoping for is that we can have a long, long stretch with consistency in our lineup to get that opportunity to see who we are, where we’re going, and how we’re going to get there."
As fate would have it, Durant’s return lasted exactly one game.
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
