Kevin Durant To Miss Time Due To Knee Injury

Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant will miss at least two weeks after being "diagnosed with an isolated MCL sprain of the right knee," the Nets announced on their official Twitter account Monday (January 9).

The injury occurred during the third quarter of Brooklyn's 102-101 win against the Miami Heat at FTX Arena Sunday (January 8) night.

The team confirmed that Durant will be reevaluated in two weeks.

Heat swingman Jimmy Butler fell back into Durant's knee after driving to the rim and getting blocked by Nets big man Ben Simmons with 1:05 left in the third quarter of Sunday's game.

Durant was on the ground for a few moments, but remained in the game briefly, having been seen rubbing at the knee before the Nets called timeout and took him out about 30 seconds later.

Durant had previously dealt with an MCL injury in his left knee, which forced him to miss more than 1.5 months during the 2022-23 season while rehabbing.

The Nets went 5-17 in Durant's absence, which also coincided with point guard Kyrie Irving only playing on a limited basis amid his refusal to get vaccinated while New York City's vaccination mandate was in place.

Brooklyn is, however, optimistic that Durant could miss less time rehabilitating from his current MCL injury than last season, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Durant also missed more than a month of action due to an MCL sprain and tibial bone bruise in 2017 during his time with the Golden State Warriors.

The 34-year-old is currently averaging 30 points, 6.8 rebounds ad 5.4 assists, playing a vital role in the Nets resurgence after a slow start to the 2022-23 season.