Superstar Kevin Durant took an unwanted premature exit on the Brooklyn Nets’ 102-101 tight contest win over the Miami Heat due to a right knee injury
Durant initially hurt his right knee as he banged up against Kyle Lowry, who drew an offensive foul against him. The star forward held his knee and took a few seconds to be able to get up.
Minutes afterwards in the third period, Durant sustained the pain again when Jimmy Butler accidentally landed in the same knee that he hurt.
Following attempts to be back in several possessions, Durant was announced unavailable to return, an obvious precautionary move by the Nets to protect him against a much serious condition.
Per head coach Jacque, Durant is likely to take an MRI tomorrow, Monday, for a clearer understanding of the severity of the injury.
Durant has been healthy so far this season, only registering one absent out of the Nets’ 40 total games. He notably missed the entire 2019-2020 campaign in his first year for the club after sustaining a ruptured Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
He is currently enjoying perhaps the best season of his career at age 34, averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 boards, 5.3 assists in a superb 55.9 percent shooting.
Durant posted 17 points, five boards and two assists before taking a leave, as he went on to eventually pass Atlanta Hawks great Dominique Wilkins for the NBA’s 14th all-time scoring leaderboard.
Kyrie Irving charged Brooklyn sans Durant, polishing the match with 29 markers and six assists. Royce O’Neale came up big in crunch time, draining a clutch floater to help the club escape the nail-biting victory.
