When the Nets take the floor Saturday night for their season opener against the Raptors, Josh Childress will be watching from the sideline.
Childress will miss Saturday night’s game, and likely Monday’s game against the Timberwolves, as well, because of a sore left ankle that has dogged him through much of the preseason.
“I’ve trying to battle back and get better,” Childress said after Friday’s practice. “But, as of now, it’s still bothering me and we wanted to take a precaution.”
Childress initially sprained the ankle during a scrimmage early in training camp, and then tweaked it again in last week’s preseason finale against the Knicks at Nassau Coliseum.
But after the backup small forward returned to practice fully on Wednesday, Childress suffered another setback, ruling him out of the opener.
“The issue was as I got warmed up, it felt better, [though] still sore,” Childress said. “But then, after I sat for awhile, it just got to where I had to go through a super-long warmup just to get it back to where I could run again.”
Nets coach Avery Johnson said Childress is unlikely to play Monday, either.
“Even though I’m saying day-to-day, I would be surprised if we do [have him Monday],” Johnson said. “But we’ll see how he recovers and responds to treatment.”
* Childress isn’t the only player who has some physical issues heading into tonight’s opener. Johnson said that Keith Bogans will have his minutes limited because of soreness in his right knee, another issue that has lasted throughout training camp.
“I would say Bogans is in that area, of maybe watching his minutes, depending on how many minutes he gets,” Johnson said. “He’s not quite all the way back yet, and it’s going to take some time.”
Bogans is expected to play tonight, though, in what will be his first regular-season game action since he suffered a torn deltoid ligament and fractured his left ankle in a game against the Pistons on Feb. 5.
* The second episode of NBA TV’s season-long reality show about the Nets, “The Association,” aired last night.
The show chronicled the team’s winding path through training camp, and, not surprisingly, heavily featured Hurricane Sandy, and the impact the storm has had on the Nets.