FILE – Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets warms up before the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Barclays Center on April 10, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Elsa/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by ELSA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant sustained a left thigh contusion in the first quarter against the host Miami Heat on Sunday and missed the remainder of the team’s 109-107 road loss.
Durant scored the Nets’ first eight points before exiting the game with 7:57 left in the first quarter after tangling with Heat forward Trevor Ariza on a drive to the basket.
Kevin Durant went back to the Nets locker room after suffering an apparent left leg injury. pic.twitter.com/CgCYni1bsU
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 18, 2021
Nets coach Steve Nash said afterward that Durant will be further evaluated on Monday.
“He’s sore,” Nash said. “But we don’t know how severe. We’ll see tomorrow how he wakes up and go from there.”
Durant returned to the Nets’ lineup on April 7 after a 23-game absence due to a hamstring injury. Durant played in four of Brooklyn’s previous five games and averaged 23.8 points, 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds during that span.
Although Durant was still on a minutes restriction, Nash said prior to the game that the plan was for the 11-time All-Star to be able to play over 30 minutes on Sunday.
Guard Kyrie Irving said it was unfortunate for Durant to go down with another injury.
“Any time one of our teammates goes down, any time something like that happens, it’s definitely going to take a hit for us,” Irving said. “And he’s just gotten back. We just pray that it’s not too serious and he’s able to recover, but it definitely has a hit on our continuity, at times.”
Durant has played in just 24 of Brooklyn’s 57 games. He is averaging 27.3 points per game.
The Nets continue to play without James Harden (hamstring), who has sat out the last six contests.