The injuries continue to mount for the Nets.
After Deron Williams (side) and Kris Humphries (shoulder) missed Wednesday’s loss in Boston and MarShon Brooks (ankle) and Damion James (foot) missed Friday’s win in Toronto, Mehmet Okur was the latest Net to be sidelined in last night’s 101-90 loss to the Heat.
Okur, who played just over three minutes in Friday’s 97-85 win over the Raptors before exiting with back spasms, was not ready to play last night, and Nets coach Avery Johnson seemed resigned to the fact his starting center won’t be back soon.
“It’s something that he’s had before,” Johnson said. “We’re going to say day-to-day, but we don’t anticipate having him back until sometime on the road.”
That would mean Okur also will miss Monday’s home game against the Hawks, and he could be unavailable Saturday in Utah against his former team, the third stop on the Nets’ four-game West Coast swing that starts Wednesday in Denver.
* The player the Nets acquired Okur to replace, Brook Lopez, attended his first game of the season after suffering a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot in the Nets’ second and final preseason game at the Garden on Dec. 21. Lopez, who had surgery to insert a pin into the foot to stabilize it and help the healing process, is not expected back until February at the earliest.
“I’m very confident this is going in the right direction,” Lopez said.
Lopez added he will be able to remove the protective boot next week, but he did not have a timetable for when he would be back in action.
* Anthony Morrow had to go to the dentist Friday night and have a root canal yesterday after getting accidentally hit in the mouth by Raptors center Amir Johnson. Morrow started last night and scored 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
* Brooks returned to the court, finishing with 12 points on 3-for-7 shooting. James had an MRI exam on his injured right foot, which was negative, and likely will be out for the next few days.