The Brooklyn Nets were met with some disappointing news over Thanksgiving break as they ended up out of the NBA Cup contention before they played their last game of the tournament slate. Brooklyn has been having a tough start to the season due to injuries and it seems that as they prepare for another formidable matchup, they will be without one of their best players.
The Nets announced on Thursday that forward Michael Porter Jr. is out for Friday’s NBA Cup matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers due to low back tightness. While Friday’s game against the 76ers will be the second game that Porter will miss this season, it will be the first time that he is held out of the lineup due to an injury, the good news being that the injury is described as tightness.
Porter missed a 125-109 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 3 due to what the Nets announced as personal reasons, but he was able to return for the following game, a 112-103 win at the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 5. Porter, 27, is having the best season of his career with averages of 24.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 36.2% from three-point land.
With Porter out of the rotation for Friday’s game against Philadelphia, Brooklyn has to be hoping that players like center Nic Claxton and guard Terance Mann can step up for a team that will be missing their two-best scorers this season. This matchup will be the first time that the Nets have played without Porter or guard Cam Thomas available so head coach Jordi Fernandez will have to get creative.
Mann, Claxton, forward Noah Clowney, and rookie guard Egor Demin seem to be entrenched in the starting lineup for the time being so there is a possibility that someone like Tyrese Martin could be inserted as a guard/forward hybrid of sorts. Either way, the Nets can treat Friday’s contest as just a regular season game as they have unfortunately been eliminated from contending for the NBA Cup.