The last time Nets center Brook Lopez suffered a sprained left ankle and felt he would play and not miss time, he sat seven games.
This time, he has missed one game. And counting.
Lopez, who played seven games after missing seven straight, is listed as “questionable” for Monday night against Philadelphia. Lopez sat out the loss at Detroit Friday with his second ankle sprain this season.
“He’s questionable,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said Sunday. “You always go with safety first. So if he can’t go, we’ll go with the next guy up. We’ve become accustomed to that.”
The Nets had won three games before Detroit and were gaining cohesion with Lopez and point guard Deron Williams. Williams acknowledged how big a factor Lopez represents.
“We try to run our offense through him. He’s our big man. He’s very versatile for us, not only on offense but on defense. He’s a big part of what we do,” Williams said.
League sources in Toronto said the Nets’ pursuit of Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, also coveted by the Knicks, is at a standstill. The Raptors had only “marginal” interest in what the Nets could offer and while Bojan Bogdanovic might have intrigued, the Nets are not inclined to part with him.
Starting with the 76ers Monday, Brooklyn faces six games when its longest trek is to Philadelphia — five of the games are home. Of course, one opponent is powerful Indiana, but the Nets will see Philadelphia twice, Washington, Derrick Rose-less Chicago and Milwaukee.
“It’s a big week,” Williams said, stressing the games against the teams with losing records, “We can’t take them lightly. Those are some good teams we’re playing.”
Said an optimistic Andray Blatche, “Every team needs to take care of home. So we’re going to come out tomorrow, we’re going to jump on Philly and then we’re going to jump on Indiana. We’re going to take care of home.”