In the midst of the Brooklyn Nets' 102-101 win against the Heat on Sunday night, the team lost superstar Kevin Durant, who left the game in the third quarter with what the team called a right knee injury. On Monday, the team announced that Durant has a right MCL sprain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. A little less than a year ago, Durant suffered an MCL sprain that kept him out for six weeks, but according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, there is optimism that he will be sidelined for less time with this knee issue, with the current expectation being that he misses a month.
The injury occurred at the end of the third quarter when Heat guard Jimmy Butler landed on Durant's knee after falling from an attempted layup. Durant immediately began grabbing at his right knee and stayed on the ground for a moment before ultimately limping back to the locker room. Shortly after, Brooklyn ruled him out for the rest of the game. Here is the play where the injury occurred:
When Durant was sidelined last season, the Nets went just 5-16, including an 11-game losing streak, showing just how important Durant is to this team. However, after losing Durant Sunday night, the Nets managed to pull out a win after being down nine points late in the fourth quarter, picking up their 18th win in the last 20 games.
Kyrie Irving and others will now have to make up for the 30 points that K.D. provides on a nightly basis. There isn't a single person on the Nets that could fill Durant's role adequately, but Brooklyn has the depth to at least partially make up for his loss in production now that Durant will be sidelined for a bit.