Philadelphia – The importance of Dangelo Russell as the Nets leader and so-called Alpha is most clear when they struggle without him.
And Brooklyn will be sidelined with a sprain in his right ankle without him for Saturday's game in Philadelphia.
The net won't win after Russell arrives, but it's still unclear how long he will be on the sidelines.
“It hurts. It hurts [when Russell went down]Trendron Watford said he has been a forward who has supported Russell since Ben Simmons was acquired. “I thought it would be tough if we weren't for him fourth. But when our starting guard goes down, it's obviously rough. But knowing him, it's okay It must be.”
Russell led Brooklyn to the league-leading Cavaliers 60-55 edge as he was blown away by Max Strath on Thursday and tried to stop him in the lane.
He twisted his ankles and jumped off the floor with 8:39 left in the third quarter.
Sprain during the second half of the Nets' loss to the Cavaliers
Barclays Center. Noah K. Murray K. Post
The net quickly abandoned a 28-11 run.
He leaves the game to plus 9, with all other net starters below minus 7.
“Yeah, very [damaging]. The veteran leader of this team keeps things calm and central. It's hard for him to get off,” Cam Johnson said. “But we have people who are completely capable. I don't think we should get out of hand.”
But that was often done when he was off the floor as he was on Saturday.
Brooklyn is minus 7.8 when Russell gets off the floor.
That's the worst that you suffer without players.
Russell was on a knee scooter after the match and was ruled out against the 76ers.
“I don't know how long he'll be out. I'm playing Point Guard anyway, so it's not that different. Watford splits the duties of Point Guard with 10-day signer Killian Hayes. said, “But [Russell] Scooping around, he's probably fine. ”
But it's not Saturday. And Russell is the one who helped pull them within impressive play-in distances to stabilize the net and draw comparisons with the 2017-18 team.
“They have d'lo. Yeah, D'lo is at the heart of that,” said Kenny Atkinson, who coached the team. “It's really funny because he's a natural leader. He has natural charisma. I was saying with the net, he has star charisma. He really does. Whatever that DNA is, D'Lo – you can have your opinion about him – but D'Lo thinks he is a star and knows he is a star. And I love it about him.”
Russell won his only All-Star Birth that season, and his former coach pulled back the curtains with the innate leadership qualities of guards.
“When he matured more, he became more comfortable here and started playing well, he started leading me,” Atkinson said. “He called me after the game. Sometimes I call him, but most of the time he would call me. I think we need to change the starting lineup. Man, me. We're practicing too much.' Whatever that was, we had this series of communication. Leadership from that perspective.
“Then in the locker room he started to earn a lot of respect and lead there. I can't imagine – he must be in the perfect place now. He saw it all. He's that age and I think he's the Alpha in that locker room. I'm a big fan of players, big fan of leaders, big fan of people.”
Cam Thomas misses his 22nd straight game with his left hamstring strain. However, he did his first 5-on-5 practice on Thursday and came without any problems.
“The recovery is on track,” Thomas told Yes Network. “My first 5-5 (Thursday), it was good, so go back to the court and play. But the recovery is great and you know, I can't wait to get back to court.
