Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving reacts after he was injured during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
NEW YORK — Kyrie Irving will miss at least a week with a sprained medial ligament in his right knee.
The Brooklyn Nets star had an MRI exam Sunday that confirmed the team’s diagnosis after he was injured Saturday in Washington.
Irving got hurt in the fourth quarter of a 113-107 loss, when he and Wizards guard Bradley Beal got tangled battling for a loose ball and Irving’s knee twisted as he landed on the court. He stayed down for a couple minutes before remaining in the game for the jump ball — in which he didn’t jump — and then left the court and went to the locker room.
Irving had his highest-scoring game of the season the previous night, scoring 54 points in a victory over Chicago.
The Nets said Irving will be re-evaluated in a week. He will miss at least home games against Phoenix and Golden State — whose point guard, D’Angelo Russell, he replaced on the Nets — as well as a game at Toronto.
Irving previously missed 26 games in his first season in Brooklyn with a right shoulder injury. He also sat out one after returning with hamstring tightness and didn’t play last Sunday after learning of Kobe Bryant’s death while preparing to face the New York Knicks.