ATLANTA — For nearly three weeks, the Nets said they would update the status of Brook Lopez and his sprained right ankle on Friday March 23.
In keeping with team policy, the news was not good.
And then the Nets played a game. Yeah, you’ve got it figured out. They lost to the Hawks and 30-point scorer Josh Smith, 93-84 Friday night, but they went down in one of their most competitive games this season, albeit with a familiar plotline.
“A loss is a loss. We led for three quarters and then got outscored 31-15,” said Deron Williams (20 points).
There have been 33 other losses. There is only one Lopez, so he was the story du jour.
Additional tests on the Nets center, who has missed all but five games this season, found a small line or crack resulting from the ankle sprain he endured after coming back from a broken foot. Lopez’s return to active duty was immediately pushed back at least two more weeks. General manager Billy King said Lopez would be evaluated at that time.
“Brook had another CT scan and in looking at it, the doctors noticed a little line that’s healing, but hasn’t completely healed, and so we’re going to keep him out for two more weeks and re-evaluate then,” King said. “It just hasn’t completely healed.
“He has no pain whatsoever.’’ … He has no pain whatsoever but it’s just we’re protecting a young fella that has a long career ahead of him.’’
Lopez broke his right foot in the second and final preseason game and missed the first 32 games. He then played five of the next six games until he sprained his ankle in Charlotte March 4.
“We shut him down for three weeks,” King said. “In looking at the sprain we said take our time, and then before putting him back out there you want to do a CT scan so you can take a look and see where he’s at and then make sure everything is clear. [Doctors found] a little line.”
Despite the Nets residing 8 ½ games out of the eighth and final playoff spot heading into last night, a firm decision to shut down Lopez was not made. The 7-footer who averaged 17.4 points in his first three injury-free seasons is a restricted free agent this summer and sitting him could damage his market value. And if the Nets were to try to trade him, they would want to show he is healthy.
“That’s a decision that we’ll make with Brook with his representatives,” King said of Lopez’s possible return. “Being a free agent, you don’t want to take something off the table that they may want, so I’ve spoken to [agent] Arn Tellem, I’ve spoken to Brook, and we’ll re-evaluate in two weeks.”
In two weeks nine games will remain for the Nets, who welcomed back Jordan Farmar last night. He had missed four games with a sore groin.
“You just hope the best for the kid. You just want to get him back completely healed, so he won’t have any setbacks,” explained coach Avery Johnson who hopes the Nets have a similar effort in them to overcome their terrible home play (5-18) tonight against Charlotte. “The main thing is, we just want to get him back at 100 percent.”
Assuming the Nets don’t get Dwight Howard via trade at a cost that includes Lopez, they would head into Brooklyn next season with their Big Three — Williams (if he stays), Gerald Wallace and Lopez — having not come close to even playing together. Lopez and Wallace, obviously, have not played together. Lopez and Williams have been played together for 17 games — 12 last season, five this year.