The deadly coronavirus continued to spread inside the Brooklyn Nets camp, with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving the latest players to catch COVID-19. They entered the league's health and safety protocols on Saturday following their positive diagnosis and will miss multiple games as a result.
10 Nets players in NBA's health and safety protocols
That brings the total number of Brooklyn players in the COVID-19 protocols to 10 since the outbreak started. Among the players who are sidelined due to COVID-19 apart from Durant and Irving are Paul Millsap, LaMarcus Aldridge, James Johnson, DeAndre' Bembry, Jevon Carter, James Harden, Bruce Brown, and Day'Ron Sharpe.
Millsap was the first Nets player to test positive for COVID-19 this week, entering the NBA's health and safety protocols on Monday. The situation spiraled out of control on Tuesday when Aldridge, Johnson, Bembry, and Carter also returned positive tests that morning, placing all four of them on the league's safety protocols.
The Nets were then dealt a huge blow on Tuesday evening when Harden and Brown tested positive for COVID-19 hours before their game against the Toronto Raptors. They were already in the facility preparing for tipoff when they received the positive tests. Both players were isolated immediately.
The Nets are a resilient team, though, and they persevered even with a short-handed squad. Led by veterans Durant and Patty Mills, the Nets pulled off a dramatic 131-129 win over the Raptors. Brooklyn grabbed the overtime victory despite playing with just eight players, four of whom were rookies.
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Losing Durant a major blow for Nets
The undermanned Nets extended their winning streak on Friday, stunning the Philadelphia 76ers, 114-105. In those two wins, Durant averaged 34 points, 12 rebounds and 9.5 assists. He played a total of 87 minutes in those two games, a workload that head coach Steve Nash admitted was unsustainable.
Durant logged those heavy minutes despite having a sore right ankle. He was supposed to sit out the game against the Raptors but the COVID-19 outbreak changed the Nets' plans. To help ease the burden on Durant, the Nets decided to bring back Irving to their squad, albeit only in a part-time role.
Because of Irving's unvaccinated status and the strict vaccine mandate of New York City, he can only suit up for the Nets in their road games in cities that do not offer similar rules. The Nets have 24 such games remaining in their regular-season schedule.
Irving's return, however, was immediately put on hold after he and Durant tested positive for COVID-19. Irving needed to return negative tests on five consecutive days before he could rejoin the team.
What is more concerning for the Nets is the loss of Durant given he is the team's main offensive weapon. Durant leads the league in scoring this season, averaging 29.7 points per game.
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