The injury-ravaged Nets received more bad news yesterday when they learned rookie guard MarShon Brooks will be out for an undetermined amount of time with a fracture in his right pinky toe.
Brooks arrived at yesterday’s practice with “some pretty significant swelling,” according to coach Avery Johnson before an X-ray revealed the injury. Brooks visited a foot specialist later in the day.
Brooks, the team’s second-leading scorer, returned to play 22 minutes in Sunday night’s loss to the Raptors after missing three games with a sore left Achilles tendon, but Johnson said the injury was unrelated to Brooks’ previous affliction.
Johnson also said DeShawn Stevenson will not travel with the team for tonight’s game against the Pacers in Indianapolis and likely will have his right knee drained to alleviate tendinitis. With the Nets already hampered by the absences of Brook Lopez, Mehmet Okur and Damion James, Johnson said recent D-League call-up Larry Owens may get the start at small forward tonight.
The seemingly never-ending string of injuries caused Deron Williams to joke that the team might be cursed.
“Where’s [Johnson] from?” Williams said. “New Orleans. You know what they do in New Orleans? [Voodoo]. He’s got something going on. He [upset] someone back home and they put the hex on us.”