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Nets star Kevin Durant is on the brink of a return to the court, potentially as soon as Thursday against Miami.
That means Durant could be playing before Ben Simmons is practicing.
“Kevin’s getting close. We’re hopeful that he can play this week. He won’t play [Monday] or [Tuesday], but hopeful, I guess it’d be Thursday or Sunday,” said Steve Nash, referring to Thursday’s tilt against the visiting Heat or Sunday’s clash in Boston to tip off a three-game road trip.
“So, Kevin’s getting close, which is exciting. And Ben is still working through a number of things, reconditioning. So he’s not going to play this week; but we’re going to keep working on his timeline, and hopefully he progresses well.”
Getting Durant back will not only change Brooklyn’s fortunes but could actually impact the playoff race; that’s how important the former MVP is.
The Nets were 27-15 (.643) and sitting second in the Eastern Conference — sixth in the NBA — when Durant suffered a left MCL sprain. But in his absence since Jan. 16, Brooklyn came into Monday just 5-14 (.263), or 26th in the league.
Simmons is still weeks away from making his season debut, dealing with a sore back and now very much in question for his stated goal of being ready for a potential March 10 return to Philadelphia.
“I don’t think he’ll practice this week,” Nash said. “He’s just doing some light shooting and just physical therapy, making sure he gets that back 100 percent, just that little flare-up, and while he does shooting and this reconditioning stuff that he’s able to do while that thing settles down.”
Simmons — who hasn’t played since last June — still hasn’t been cleared for high-intensity work yet. He has to get through three high-intensity practices before he can play.
The Nets start a three-game swing Sunday in Boston, followed by March 8 in Charlotte and finally that anticipated March 10 visit to Philadelphia.
When asked if Simmons is on pace to debut in the middle of this month — the Nets have that Sixers game, followed by hosting the rival Knicks on March 13 — Nash replied “I haven’t done the math. I don’t know.”
Joe Harris hasn’t played since Nov. 14 and is trying to avoid a second left ankle surgery. He’s had a second opinion and no decision will be made until seeing how his ankle comes through more workouts.
“Yeah, we’re waiting to see how he responds,” said Nash. “There’s no decisions made either way and we’re just trying to see how much improvement he can get over the coming weeks.”
Goran Dragic will play twice in two nights against the Raptors team that essentially shelved him after five games, citing a youth movement. He provides the Nets a pure lead guard they’ve been lacking.
“Yeah really he’s kind of our true point guard on our roster,” Nash said. “Patty [Mills], Seth [Curry], Kyrie [Irving] are guys that are really more scorers, players off the ball who attack.”
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