Nets All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving severely rolled his right ankle when he landed on the foot of Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo during a floater attempt. Malika Andrews of ESPN tweets that Irving will miss the second half of a crucial Game 4 contest in Milwaukee. The Nets lead the series 2-1, as of this writing.
Irving joins fellow All-Star ball handler James Harden among the growing list of injured Nets as these playoffs continue. Harden remains sidelined with a right hamstring strain. The recovery timelines for Irving and Harden are currently murky, although Nets head coach Steve Nash noted ahead of Sunday’s game that Harden was “progressing in the right direction,” per Malika Andrews of ESPN.
Nash noted that Harden has moved on to on-court workouts and shooting drills. “When he’s able to get up to full speed and do it for two or three days without recurrence or setback … then I think that’s kind of the marker,” he said of establishing a recovery timeline.
Reserve point guard Mike James started in the place of Irving during the game’s second half. Another second-half starting adjustment came from Nash in the form of forward Jeff Green getting the nod ahead of shooting guard Bruce Brown, to provide more two-way firepower around incumbent starters Joe Harris (now the nominal starting shooting guard) and Blake Griffin (center), plus lone remaining healthy Nets All-Star Kevin Durant.
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