Kevin Durant is closing in on his return after missing Brooklyn’s last 21 games due to a hamstring strain, and before Thursday night’s 111-89 win against Charlotte, he discussed his ongoing progress.
“It was more so about running up and down the floor as opposed to having five guys out there,” said Durant. “So 4-on-4 simulates the same type of thing. So it was good to get some of that stuff in, transitioning from offense to defense, stuff I haven’t done in a couple of weeks. It’s good to get a few of those sessions in before I want to jump into an NBA game, and I think that’s what we’ve been doing the last few days and what we’re gonna do going forward.”
Nets head coach Steve Nash said it is unlikely though that Durant would play in either of Brooklyn’s next two games a back-to-back set on Sunday and Monday against the Bulls and Knicks. Brooklyn’s next game after that is Wednesday against the Pelicans.
“As far as what we need to see from him to return to play, the performance team, they have their markers,” said Nash. “There’s a certain amount of high intensity loads and full-court activity that he has to be able to get through not only without incident or without issues the next day, but also just the cumulative build up of those loads. So, that is something he’s in the middle of right now and hopefully if he can do that without any setbacks, there will the time where can re-enter. So, he’s progressing in the right manner and we’re hopeful it wont be too long.”
