And in the fourth game over five days, Kevin Durant rested.
The Nets held the NBA’s leading scorer out of their 130-109 loss Thursday night against the Thunder at Barclays Center after he’d appeared in three games over the previous four days, including the win Wednesday at Chicago.
Veteran guard Patty Mills also was rested, with injured big men LaMarcus Aldridge (foot) and Nic Claxton (hamstring) still unavailable as well.
“Just as we talk about frequently in these forums, those guys have played a lot of minutes,” coach Steve Nash said of Durant and Mills before the game. “Four games, five nights, coast to coast, crazy start times to the games and time zones, it’s just an opportunity to use caution and to get them some rest.”
The 33-year-old Durant was second in the league behind Toronto’s Fred VanVleet in minutes per game this season at 37.2. Nash added he didn’t consider staggering rest games for Durant and Mills between the past two nights or by sitting one of them Saturday against the Pelicans.
“I think those guys have just played so much and have had so much responsibility in the games recently that it wouldn’t be smart for them to play [Thursday],” Nash said. “Patty’s been kind of on the edge as far as his load for a while now, and Kevin is also.
“I think it was a little bit of a risk that we didn’t want to take. If you get cute and try to mix it up, you’re putting a risk on one of those guys.”
Unvaccinated guard Kyrie Irving also was out of the lineup again due to local COVID-19 mandates after he played this week at Portland and Chicago.
James Harden joked after the win Wednesday that he’s “gonna give [Irving] the shot” for availability at home games, but Nash said there has been no change in Irving’s status.
“I’ve not heard anything at all. For me it’s just he’ll be playing on the road,” Nash said.
Durant still leads Eastern Conference forwards in All-Star balloting with more than 4 million votes, ahead of the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokuonmpo and the 76ers’ Joel Embiid as the projected front-court starters. Only Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Lakers forward LeBron James have garnered more votes than Durant.
Harden ranks fourth and Irving is sixth in the voting among Eastern guards, while Aldridge is listed 10th among forwards.