And in the fourth game over five days, Kevin Durant rested.
The Nets announced that the NBA’s leading scorer will sit out Thursday’s game against the Thunder at Barclays Center after he’d appeared in three games over the previous four days, including Wednesday’s road win over the Bulls.
The 33-year-old Durant ranks second in the league behind Toronto’s Fred VanVleet in minutes per game this season at 37.2.
Veteran guard Patty Mills also will be rested against Oklahoma City, the Nets said, with big men LaMarcus Aldridge (foot) and Nic Claxton (hamstring) also unavailable. Unvaccinated guard Kyrie Irving also will be out of the lineup again due to local COVID-19 mandates after he played in the team’s two road games this week in Portland and Chicago.
Durant still leads Eastern Conference forwards in All-Star balloting with more than 4 million votes, ahead of Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokuonmpo and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid as the projected frontcourt starters. Only Golden State guard Stephen Curry and Lakers forward LeBron James have garnered more votes than Durant.
James Harden ranks fourth and Irving is sixth in the voting among Eastern guards, while Aldridge is listed 10th among forwards.