Nets' Kyrie Irving's MRI reveals sprained right knee ligament, but will avoid surgery

The Nets could breathe a sigh of relief when it was announced on Sunday that an MRI examination confirmed Kyrie Irving suffered a sprained right medial ligament in Saturday’s loss in Washington. There was no tear and no need for surgery, and the team said Irving will be re-evaluated in one week.

Irving previously missed 28 games this season, including 26 straight for a right shoulder impingement. If he had required knee surgery, it likely would have ended his season. The Nets have five more games before the All-Star break, and based on the one-week timetable for re-evaluation, Irving like will miss home games against the Suns Monday night at Barclays Center and the Warriors on Wednesday and a road game Saturday at Toronto.

The Nets play at Indiana the following week and then at home in a rematch with the Raptors on Feb. 12. After the break, their schedule resumes Feb. 20 in Philadelphia.

Irving suffered the injury in a collision with Wizards guard Bradley Beal midway through the fourth quarter. “Those moments are always scary,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said after the game. “My gut was that he wasn’t writhing in pain, but you never know with those things. Obviously, we got him out after the jump ball, but hopefully, we dodged a bullet.

“It’s frustrating for all of us. It’s just part of the game. Hopefully, it’s not a long-term thing and we’ll have other guys step up and contribute.”

It won’t be surprising if Irving sits out all five games before the All-Star break as a precaution. But at least, it appears the Nets can count on having their maximum-salary point guard available to finish the season.

Despite being in and out of the lineup, Irving has excelled when healthy. He scored a season-low 11 points against the Wizards, but that came one night after his season-high 54 in a win over the Bulls. He’s averaging a career-high 27.4 points per game, 6.4 assists and leads the NBA with a .922 free-throw percentage.

Asked about the frustration he has endured in a star-crossed season, Irving said, “It’s not irritating, man. It’s just been one hell of a week.”

Of course, he was referring to the loss of close personal friend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash that killed seven others on Jan. 26. Irving sat out against the Knicks later that night because of overwhelming grief. Irving returned to score 74 points in two wins before spraining his right knee against the Wizards.

“I don’t expect anyone to really feel bad for us,” Irving said. “Things like this happen, and we’ve just got to pick each other up like we always do. It’s just about us in the locker room as we continue to move forward, continue to work at those goals that we have.”

There’s no question Irving’s teammates feel his pain, especially after watching him rehab his painful shoulder injury for two months. “It’s tough, especially for him,” center Jarrett Allen said. “He had the amazing night [Friday against the Bulls]. He came back from his first injury, and now we see this happening. It is a little setback, but we are going to get over it.

“Coach always preaches the message: Next man up. We have to learn how to get in a groove with each other. It is hard, but as professionals, we have to do it.”

It seemed the Nets (21-27) were turning a corner with their own improved play and Irving’s healthy return, but they lost an eight-point fourth-quarter lead in Washington and then lost Irving.

“I think this was a step backwards,” Garrett Temple said. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board. We’ve got to make up some more ground in the next four or five games before the All-Star break . . . We have to try to regroup. We’ve been in this situation before.”

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.