Kevin Durant leaves game with knee injury

Shams Charania: Nets say Kevin Durant is out for remainder of game vs. Pelicans due to left knee sprain.
Source: Twitter @ShamsCharania

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
With that reverse layup, Jayson Tatum just became the 5th NBA player this year to reach 1,000 points (Durant, Curry, Young, Antetokounmpo – earlier tonight).
He’s scored 1,000 points in each of his first five seasons. – 8:53 PM

Mike Mazzeo @MazzNYC
Kevin Durant out for the rest of tonight with a left knee sprain, per team. Durant right there with Stephen Curry to win MVP at sportsbooks – 8:52 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Nets say Kevin Durant won’t return tonight because of a left knee sprain – 8:51 PM

Christian Clark @cclark_13
Kevin Durant is out for the rest of tonight’s game with a left knee sprain, the Nets say. – 8:50 PM

Andrew Lopez @_Andrew_Lopez
From Nets PR: Kevin Durant is out for the remainder of tonight’s game due to a left knee sprain. – 8:50 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Nets ruled Kevin Durant out for the rest of the game due to a left knee sprain. – 8:49 PM

Chris Mannix @SIChrisMannix
Kevin Durant has been ruled out of the remainder of the Nets game with a knee sprain. – 8:49 PM

Ajayi Browne @ajayibrowne
Kevin Durant has been ruled out for the remainder of the game, the team says. – 8:49 PM

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
Nets say Kevin Durant is out for the rest of the game with a left knee sprain. – 8:49 PM

Alex Schiffer @Alex__Schiffer
Nets rule Kevin Durant out for rest of the game with a left knee sprain. – 8:49 PM

Marc Stein @TheSteinLine
The Nets say Kevin Durant is out for the remainder of tonight’s game due to a left knee sprain. – 8:49 PM

Shams Charania @ShamsCharania
Nets say Kevin Durant is out for remainder of game vs. Pelicans due to left knee sprain. – 8:49 PM

Andrew Lopez @_Andrew_Lopez
HALF: Nets 69, Pels 41
– Woof.
– Ingram: 13p, 5a, 2r, 5/13 FG
– No other Pels player has more than 5p
– Harden: 13p, 11a, 5r
– Nets with 5 in double figures including KD (13p)
Pels: 34.1 FG%, 5/18 3P, 6/8 FT
Nets: 54.2 FG%, 8/16 3P, 9/10 FT – 8:42 PM

Will Guillory @WillGuillory
End of the 1st half: Nets 69, Pelicans 41
Ingram 13 pts & 5 assts
No other Pelican has more than 5 pts
Harden 13 pts & 11 assts
KD had 12 pts before leaving with a left knee injury.
Nets just stomped the Pels in that half. Wasn’t even close. – 8:42 PM

Alex Schiffer @Alex__Schiffer
Halftime: Nets lead the Pelicans 69-41. Five Nets in double-figures, led by Kessler Edwards and Harden with 13. Kevin Durant left the game after banging knees and there’s been no update since. We’ll see what the deal is. – 8:41 PM

Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel
Felt like Pelicans had opportunity to at least somewhat get back in this game before halftime — after all the air was sucked out of Barclays with Durant going to locker room, but Brooklyn is up 67-37 with a little over a minute left in 1st half. Absolutely no shots have dropped. – 8:38 PM

Dave Early @DavidEarly
Kevin Durant checked himself out of the game and is heading back to the locker room rubbing his left knee. Bruce Brown fell into his leg a bit. Looked like maybe a hyper extension a bit as the leg straightened out. – 8:29 PM

Nick Friedell @NickFriedell
KD hurt his left knee — looked like he bumped knees on the last play. He tried to stay in the game for a moment — but then walked off the floor and went straight back to the locker room. – 8:28 PM

Ajayi Browne @ajayibrowne
Kevin Durant is exiting the game holding on to his knee. – 8:28 PM

Andrew Lopez @_Andrew_Lopez
Love that the refs allowed them to play the final 1.3 of the 1st quarter and then roll right into the 2nd quarter without another minutes-long break in between.
Pels officially down 32-22 now after the 1Q.
But KD is on one tonight. – 8:10 PM

Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel
The Pelicans trail the Nets, a notoriously mediocre 1st quarter team, 35-22 after one. Herb Jones picked up two relatively quick fouls on Durant and five team turnovers hurt. Steve Nash also noted New Orleans’ offensive rebounding in pregame, but the Pels only grabbed 2 of them. – 8:08 PM

Alex Schiffer @Alex__Schiffer
Update: Durant’s shot was no-good. Was actually a shot clock violation. Still 1.2 seconds left in the quarter. – 8:08 PM

Nick Friedell @NickFriedell
KD with a real nice 1st quarter after resting on Thursday night. He’s got 15 points, three rebounds and two assists already in 12 minutes. Looks refreshed after sitting against OKC. Nets just need to keep their foot on the gas in this one. – 8:07 PM

Ajayi Browne @ajayibrowne
End of 1st QTR: Nets 35, Pelicans 22
Kevin Durant (15 PTS, 5-8 FG), James Harden (6 PTS, 4 ASTS) & the Nets are pretty much playing flawlessly. They’re taking care of the ball and have attempted 4 more shots than New Orleans. The perimeter defense could be better though. – 8:06 PM

Christian Clark @cclark_13
KD might go for 50. – 8:06 PM

Will Guillory @WillGuillory
End of the 1st: Nets 35, Pelicans 22
Ingram 6 pts
Graham 5 pts
Durant 15 pts (5-8 FG)
It’s starting to feel like this might be one of those games for KD. – 8:06 PM

Alex Schiffer @Alex__Schiffer
End of the first quarter: Nets lead the Pelicans 35-22. Kevin Durant with 15 points already. Durant just hit a shot-clock and buzzer beating 3 to end the quarter. It’s under review. Cam Thomas is 3-for-3 with seven points. – 8:06 PM

Will Guillory @WillGuillory
KD has come out very aggressive early in this one. He’s already up to 7 points. Just got Herb Jones out of the game with his 2nd foul. – 7:50 PM

Will Guillory @WillGuillory
Willie Green said earlier that Herb Jones will be guarding Kevin Durant to start tonight’s game.
In the Nets’ 1st game vs NOLA this year, Herb was the primary defender on 2 of KD’s 17 shots. Gonna be interesting to see how the rookie handles this matchup. – 7:11 PM

Ajayi Browne @ajayibrowne
The Nets’ Starters vs. the Pelicans:
👨🏿‍🍳James Harden
👷🏽‍♂️Patty Mills
🔒Kessler Edwards
🪣Kevin Durant
📈Day’Ron Sharpe – 7:02 PM

Alex Schiffer @Alex__Schiffer
Nets starters vs. NOLA: Harden, Mills, Durant, Edwards and Sharpe. – 7:01 PM

Sirius XM NBA @SiriusXMNBA
“Whether he wins one in Brooklyn or not, the guy conducts himself as a champion.”
Jeff Van Gundy tells @Frank Isola & @Brian Scalabrine what makes Kevin Durant so good pic.twitter.com/o2jf0fpMx9 – 6:48 PM

Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_Eichenhofer
Willie Green said Herbert Jones will open the game matched up vs. Kevin Durant on defense. Green: “He embraces (difficult challenges)… this is great experience for Herb. He’s just going to get better and better, guarding the best players every night.” – 6:08 PM

Brian Lewis @NYPost_Lewis
Sports+: #Nets‘ midterm report card: Kevin Durant, supporting cast off to good start but bigger tests await nypost.com/2022/01/15/net… via @nypost – 10:21 AM

More on this storyline

Will Guillory: Kevin Durant just walked off the court after reaching down at his left knee. Walked straight to the locker room. Not sure what happened. Looked like he may have bumped knees with one of the Pels players. -via Twitter @WillGuillory / January 15, 2022

Ohm Youngmisuk: LeBron James on Kevin Durant’s comeback from Achilles injury when asked by @Dave McMenamin: “There was never any doubt from myself or anybody in this league…I heard there was only like really 1 group of people that had any doubt on him coming back full strength. Not going to name them.” -via Twitter @NotoriousOHM / December 24, 2021

Mark Medina: Brooklyn Nets rule out Kevin Durant for tomorrow’s game vs the Orlando Magic because of right ankle soreness -via Twitter @MarkG_Medina / December 17, 2021