Report: Kevin Durant considered day-to-day, close to return

Brooklyn Nets All-Star SF Kevin Durant has been sidelined with hamstring tightness since February 13. Durant is close to a return and is being considered day-to-day, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Thursday morning. The Nets will not bring Durant back until he’s absolutely, 100 percent healthy, per Shams. So we could see Durant miss a few more games.

Brooklyn could be down G James Harden as well. The Beard injured his hamstring in Wednesday’s win over the Houston Rockets. He was forced to leave in the second half due to tightness, so it could be precautionary. As we’ve seen with superstars on the Nets, the team isn’t risking any further injury. With that, we could see Harden sit out a few games, potentially into next week. The Nets play the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday and then have a Sunday-Monday back-to-back against the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks.

The Nets just overtook the Philadelphia 76ers for first place in the Eastern Conference with the win over the Rockets on Wednesday. So the team has been doing pretty well despite missing Harden, Durant and even Kyrie Irving for extended time this season. It’s always been a “next superstar up” type of mentality for the Nets, so expect Irving to take the lead if Harden and Durant are sidelined.