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Brooklyn forwards Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin have already been ruled out of Monday’s nationally televised game against the Knicks at Barclays Center.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (right knee soreness), who sat out Saturday’s win over Detroit, has been upgraded to probable. But Durant is set to miss his 12th straight game with a left hamstring strain that will receive a third scan this week. Griffin is listed as out with injury management for his left knee, but he’s said he is fine, just ramping back up after lengthy inactivity.
Durant hasn’t played since Feb. 13, while Griffin — yet to make his Brooklyn debut — has been idle since the day before that. The Nets have already used more starting lineups than any team in the league and will have to adjust rotations again when both are healthy and fit to play.
“We’ll cross that [bridge] when it comes, because who knows who’ll be available when Kevin’s available, presuming everyone’s available when Kevin is,” Steve Nash said. “But if the season’s any indication, that might be foolhardy. So we’ll see. We’ll see when Kevin’s available, and obviously he goes straight back into his spot, and we’ll see how we can adapt to the available roster around him.
“That might take some time too. So we’ll constantly be in flux it feels like this season. But that’s the case for most teams. Some have the luxury of being together for three, four, five years now, which we don’t have. But we also feel great that our teams making strides and improving and growing and finding an identity.”
Spencer Dinwiddie has been making strides in his rehab from a partially torn ACL suffered Dec. 28. But Nash won’t talk about the possibility of Dinwiddie returning this season for fear of putting any undue pressure on the Nets guard.
“I haven’t messaged with him for a few weeks now. I think he’s in L.A. I’m very hesitant to comment on that because my No. 1 goal is Spencer’s career, his long-term health,” Nash said. “I don’t want to dampen any dreams or goals that he has.
“At the same time, my No. 1 goal for Spencer is more important than our team, and it’s for him to get to 100 percent with his health and have a long and successful career after this injury. That’s my No. 1 goal; that’s all I’m thinking about. Whenever he’s ready to come back to basketball, I’ll be happy; but hopefully it’s in a really safe and well thought out timeline.”
James Harden’s 24 points Saturday give him 21,792 for his career. He passed Hall of Famer Larry Bird for 34th on the all-time list.
Through the All-Star break, the Nets averaged 82,000 total viewers on YES Network. That’s a 67 percent increase from 49,000 in the first half of last season.
Brooklyn still has two roster spots open, and must fill at least one by next weekend to reach 14 players.
Caris LeVert — traded to Indiana in the Harden deal — made his Pacers debut Saturday where he scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 27 minutes of a 122-111 win against the Suns. He’d had surgery to remove a small growth on his left kidney that was found during his routine physical for Indiana.
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