Nets' Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving won't play vs. Grizzlies

The Brooklyn Nets somewhat surprisingly fell to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday for their first loss of the season. In expected news, Brooklyn superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving won't play in Monday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies. 

The Nets confirmed that Durant and Irving will both sit for the second half of Brooklyn's first back-to-back of the season. Durant tore his Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals and missed a year and half of action before making his official Brooklyn debut earlier this month, while Irving opted out of the conclusion of the 2019-20 campaign held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as he was dealing with lingering shoulder issues. 

"I almost don't want to have a preconceived plan," Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash told reporters before Sunday's game while speaking about Durant possibly playing back-to-back contests, per Malika Andrews of ESPN. "We have ideas about limiting the amount of minutes and impact and minute congestion for sure. We want to be careful with different people, with different vulnerabilities and try to make as smart long-term decisions as we can." 

Durant, a two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, averaged 26.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in his first three contests with Brooklyn. Irving leads the Nets in scoring with 29.3 points per game. 

Earlier in the day, reports emerged that Brooklyn guard Spencer Dinwiddie will miss the remainder of the season due to a partially torn ACL.