Injury Report: Brooklyn Nets vs. Philadelphia 76ers
The Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers will meet for the second time on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center. It'll mark the second of four meetings between the two Eastern Conference contenders. The latest meeting has a possibility of both teams being without one of their superstars.
To no surprise, the Nets have ruled Kevin Durant (isolated MCL sprain) out against the Sixers. The team disclosed a medical update Tuesday afternoon, revealing Durant has been cleared for running and on-court basketball activities. He will be scheduled to be reassessed in another two weeks.
Outside of Brooklyn's cornerstone, the team is fully healthy for the meeting in Philadelphia. The team has assigned Dru Smith (G League - Two-Way) to their NBA G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.
For the Sixers, the team has one big question mark heading into the game. Philadelphia has listed superstar center Joel Embiid (left foot soreness) as questionable vs. the Nets. There is no further update at this time. He has yet to play against former star teammate and current Nets point forward Ben Simmons since the NBA trade deadline transaction last February.
Philadelphia will also be missing one of their key sharpshooters vs. Brooklyn. The team has ruled Furkan Korkmaz (right shoulder soreness) out for the matchup. The Sixers have assigned three players to their NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats: Julian Champagnie (G League Two-Way), Louis King (G League Two-Way), and Jaden Springer (G League, On Assignment).
In other news, Durant will not take the bus ride down the New Jersey Turnpike to Philadelphia for the matchup. Instead, he will remain in Brooklyn working on his rehab.
"No. I just think it's better for me to stay here with all the equipment we got here," Durant said. "I've been in a nice routine the past couple of weeks, so I don't want to break that just for a day. The guys understand I'll be back with them soon. Even if I'm not playing, I think in a couple of weeks I'll be good enough to move around. But for now, I want to stay close to the facility with all of the equipment we have."
