Nets’ Kevin Durant going for tests on knee injury: ‘Those plays are scary’

MIAMI — Nets star Kevin Durant was forced out of Sunday’s game against the Heat with a knee injury and didn’t return.

Any injury to Durant is Brooklyn’s biggest worry. Now the Nets will have to wait for Monday’s examination and presumptive MRI exam to see if it’s just a bad dream or an outright nightmare.

“Yeah, you know, he didn’t finish the game. And just right knee, he’ll get evaluated [in New York] and then hopefully I’ll have some more info for you,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Most likely it will include imaging just to make sure we’re good.

“I did not inquire about the knee, don’t want to speculate. I’m gonna knock on some wood and see what happens. … [He] just pretty much he dapped up everybody coming into the locker room. I just said I wish you would’ve got the rebound on that play and it was heck of a win with the group and that was about it.”

The injury occurred when Ben Simmons blocked Jimmy Butler’s shot with 1:05 left in the third quarter, and the Miami wing fell back awkwardly into Durant’s knee.

Durant was down for several seconds in discomfort, and no Brooklyn training personnel immediately came toward him. Kyrie Irving was the only Net to come off the bench to help Durant, as he put his lost shoe back on and was eventually helped to his feet.

“I was right there. Those plays are scary, because when someone’s not looking with what’s going on anything can happen in those moments. So I’m grateful that all that time that he’s put in the weight room putting his body in a great position, his body was able to save from something worse,” Irving said. “That’s why I stepped on the court right as soon as that happened, just natural reaction, natural human reaction.

“It doesn’t feel good emotionally, to be honest with you. It was definitely gonna be easy for me to kind of let my emotions show, but just had a choice to make, and things like that. With [Durant] we know what we’re up against with him not being in lineup. We can say it every single day, but we don’t have time for any excuses. We’ve just got to keep moving forward and stay mature about it, like I said.”

Durant tried to stay on the floor, and gut through the pain. But he couldn’t move to corral a high pass from Seth Curry on the next possession, and looked to be massaging his knee on defense on the ensuing trip back downcourt.

The Nets took a timeout down 80-79 with 36.6 seconds left in the third quarter. Durant didn’t take the court after play resumed, heading down the tunnel for evaluation and treatment. He didn’t return.

“He’s in good spirits, as we all are,” Irving said. “The strength of our team is us picking each other up and just being ready for whatever is thrown at us.”

Losing Durant for any length of time would be catastrophic for Brooklyn. He sprained his MCL on January 15 of last season and did not return until March 3. The Nets — who had been 27-15 at that point, near the top of the Eastern Conference — went just 5-16 in Durant’s absence, including dropping 11 straight games to fall into the play-in. That lack of fight during his absence contributed to his offseason trade request.

Another sprained MCL in 2017 — along with a bone bruise — cost Durant over a month in 2017 with Golden State.

“Tough, man. You never want to see anyone go down especially seven. I think he got hurt here last year. It was a tough play, but just hope he’s all right and can get back fast,” said Nic Claxton, adding Durant was in good spirits. “Yeah. Can’t control it now.”