Nets must rest Seth Curry now to save him for playoff run

The Nets should rest Seth Curry — rather, they should rest his injured left ankle — for their remaining four regular season games.

It’s an unpopular decision given Curry’s importance to the flow of the Nets offense, but it must happen. The performance staff must prioritize Curry’s sustained availability for the playoffs rather than risk his health in regular season games.

But they’re games the Nets need to win. If they finish the regular season 10th in the East, they are one loss away from playoff elimination and can finish no higher than the eighth seed. If the Nets are able to win out, they might be able to claw their way into seventh or eighth place, which would obviously be preferable: It would be a win-and-in game for the No. 7 seed, and a cushion to lose at least one game in the play-in before facing elimination.

With four games remaining for all three teams, the Nets are tied with the Hornets in ninth, a game behind the Hawks. They hold the tiebreaker against the Hawks but not the Hornets; the Hornets would also win a three-way tie after the Nets’ letdown loss in Atlanta on Saturday.

Which makes Curry’s gimpy ankle much more of an issue. He’s the only lights-out shooter not named Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving available on the Nets roster with Joe Harris out for the season after undergoing a second surgery on his own ankle. The Nets are a much better team with him on the floor, but Curry conceded to playing through a significant amount of pain on the ankle. If he injures it in one of these regular season games, you can kiss him goodbye for a good chunk of the playoffs.

“That’s the position we’re in is do we try to sit him? Does him sitting for a week help? Or is he right back in the same boat anyways?” Nash said. “And how important is it for us to try to creep up into the seven-eight spots? So we’re weighing all those things and it’s kind of more daily than it is making a decision.”

Which is why they need to rest him, and it appears they’re already doing so. The Nets ruled Curry out with left ankle soreness for a second consecutive game on Tuesday against the Houston Rockets. It marked his sixth game missed due to the injured left ankle, and Curry could also miss his seventh in the second leg of a back to back against the Knicks on Wednesday.

Nash said Curry was a limited participant in Monday’s practice.

“Seth was out there did not do much today,” he said. “Just trying to save his recovery as much as possible.”

He should also be a limited participant the rest of the regular season.

After this upcoming Rockets-Knicks back-to-back, there are only two more regular season games left until Tuesday’s play-in tournament matchup against an opponent yet to be decided: Friday against the Cavaliers and Sunday against the Indiana Pacers.

The Nets should be able to handle those games without their lead sharpshooter.

But Curry’s absence underscores just how important he is to the Nets’ offense. He is their only reliable deep shooter, and his left ankle is suspect.

Meanwhile, Patty Mills has been in a shooting slump and is no longer reliable from downtown.

He has been the healthiest Net this season, thus the most available, and thus the minutes have piled to a career high. As a result, his legs have appeared shot and his jump shots have been off: He is shooting just 31.9% from downtown since Feb. 8 and just 31.4% on wide-open threes (no defender within six feet) since Goran Dragic made his Nets debut on Feb. 26.

For reference, Curry is shooting a hair under 70% on wide-open threes since his arrival in Brooklyn via the Feb. 10 James Harden trade.

“It’s always good having more options on the offensive side, guys that can create for themselves,” Durant said after Monday’s practice. “That’s always best for your offense, guys that can put the ball on the floor and make plays, and Seth is one of those guys.”

Nash, for what it’s worth, thinks Mills will hit his stride soon. The veteran Australian point guard has been susceptible to hot and cold streaks all season and is overdue for a breakout stretch.

“I think more than anything Patty’s just had a heavy load this year on and off the floor, played a lot of minutes,” Nash said. “So I think Patty will rebound from this and be much more like himself and his best self going forward.”

But if Mills can’t snap out of it, the Nets’ next best options spacing the floor are rookie Kessler Edwards, veteran guard Goran Dragic, much-improved shooter Bruce Brown, and rookie scorer Cam Thomas. None would be considered consistent shooters except Edwards, who is currently on a two-way deal and thus ineligible to participate in the playoffs.

The playoffs matter most. The Nets still believe they can win a championship this season if they can stay healthy, and a large part of that health fluctuates on a daily basis due to Curry’s injured ankle. They must rest him, and his teammates must carry the load without him.

Solely so his ankle can have a little more strength when they need him most.