The Brooklyn Nets will begin their short-term life without injured Kevin Durant, and coach Jacque Vaughn said he has a plan to make up for the scoring that departs with Durant sidelined up to a month with a right knee sprain. The Kevin Durant injury news could provide betting opportunities with the Nets, starting Thursday in an Eastern Conference showdown against the Boston Celtics.
“I think they’re looking forward to playing and trying to win and figuring it out together,” Vaughn told ESPN on Wednesday.
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The Nets are a 3.5-point home underdog against the Celtics on Thursday (DraftKings). Brooklyn (27-13) has won 18 of its past 20 games to move within 1 1/2 games of the Celtics for first in the East.
Though Vaughn said “Our schemes will not change,” he did say the Nets would have to take more 3-pointers as a group to make up for the scoring generated by Durant’s midrange game.
“The shot discrepancy can’t be the same,” Vaughn said, via SI.com. “We can’t turn it over the same. So all the things that increase or decrease your margins, we’ve just got to be better at.”
Brooklyn is tied for 24th in 3-point attempts per game (31.4) but is second in 3-point shooting percentage (39.2%). Kyrie Irving (8.6), Royce O’Neale (5.6), Joe Harris (4.2) and Seth Curry (4.1) each take more than four 3-pointers per game, and Yuta Watanabe is shooting 52.7% from distance on 2.7 attempts and 18.3 minutes per game. In November, Watanabe had a three-game streak with 12 3-pointers made on 66.7% shooting.
“He does all the little things,” Kevin Durant said of Watanabe earlier this season, via The Sporting News. “To be able to switch, guard guys with his length (6-foot-8), rebound, cut to the rim, and then when he’s knocking down shots, that just turns him into an incredible player.”
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Durant was injured Sunday in a 102-101 win against the Miami Heat. He was averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season.
Last season, when Kevin Durant missed six weeks with a left knee injury, Irving was a road-only part-time player, and Steve Nash was coach, the Nets went 5-18 in Durant’s absence. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks but is likely to be out longer than that.
“You don’t want him to miss any time. But, you know, I guess it could have been worse,” Vaughn told AMNY. “I guess you can say that part of it, but you don’t want him to miss any time. So for him now, just to heal, and like I said, we’ll be a better team when he returns.”
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