The Brooklyn Nets were looking to lean on the performances of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in order to take down Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4 of their playoff series, in order to pull ahead and take a 3-1 lead.
Without James Harden due to his hamstring troubles, the Nets have leaned on Irving to take over, and he’s done a solid job so far.
Unfortunately, the Nets will now have to try and pull out the W without two of their three stars in this game, as Irving was helped to the locker room after landing on Giannis’ foot when coming down after a shot attempt.
This unfortunate Kyrie injury has forced him to be ruled out for the remainder of the game, which is a huge obstacle laid in Brooklyn’s path.
Kyrie Irving appeared to roll his ankle while landing on the foot of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Irving limped to the locker room on his own. pic.twitter.com/CTxMM9s4nq
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) June 13, 2021
The Nets will have to try to win without Kyrie Irving.
On top of the fact that an ankle injury is devastating for a player like Irving that uses speed and quickness to form the backbone of his game, a high ankle sprain could potentially sideline Irving for weeks.
The Nets will likely use some combination of Bruce Brown, Landry Shamet, and potentially Tyler Johnson to replace Irving in the lineup, Whatever positive traits those three may have, this is not an ideal situation.
The Nets still have Durant, and that will get them far in the postseason, but they need to find some way to potentially make up for Irving’s production if both he and Harden end up missing the rest of this series.
The Nets are 3-0 in games where Durant played without Irving and Harden, but regular season wins against the Knicks, Pacers, and Timberwolves don’t compare to staring down a two-time MVP in Giannis in the postseason. The Nets need Durant to take over and a little bit of luck to pull out wins in this series.
James Harden injury history and updates
Injury history and updates for Brooklyn Nets star guard James Harden, going back to his days with the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.