CHICAGO — Dayron Sharpe finally made his season debut Monday night.
After returning from a hamstring injury he hasn't seen since training camp, the backup center hit the ground running, posting four points, two rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes of action.
His stint drew praise from manager Jordi Fernandes, but the big man himself was unimpressed.
“The second stint was tiring, I'm not going to lie, but the wind was coming back. After that, I thought I was fine,” Sharp said. “But for me personally, I feel like I played.” [terribly]. But this is the first game, so keep building from here. ”
The Nets lost 128-102, putting a damper on Sharpe's first action since April.
“Overall it felt really good to be back on the court, but the result of the game really ruined the moment,” Sharp said. “So hopefully we can win the next game and feel even better.”
His return couldn't have come at a better time for the Nets and an injury-riddled frontcourt, with the NBA's worst rebounding team returning one of the league's best rebounders.
Nick Claxton was delighted to have Sharpe back
“It was good. It's definitely good to see,” Claxton said. “He’s sharpened.” [and] work. He is working hard to recover from a serious hamstring injury. So it's nice to have the Twin Towers back. ”
Fernandez agreed.
“I love his energy, his pick-and-roll defense, his aggressiveness,” the coach said. “He's going to continue to get better. I believe that because I've seen it since the first day he walked into the gym. Great attitude, great energy. And being able to watch him on the court… It was really good.”
Starting forward Cam Johnson was doubtful that he would play, and after playing, he withdrew with a sprained left ankle.
“[We’re] I’m not too worried,” Fernandez said of Johnson. “Again, I'm not a doctor, but for now he's living hand to mouth. He wanted to see how he was feeling, but he's out. So I thought I'd see how he feels. Sho [Tuesday] And go from there. ”
Meanwhile, Bojan Bogdanovic (recovering from left foot injury), Noah Clowney (left ankle sprain), Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain), Ben Simmons (lower back injury management and left knee soreness) , Cam Thomas (left hamstring strain), Ziare Williams (left knee sprain) and Jalen Martin (G League) were out.
“For now, we're going to get a better sense of how to do that.” [Williams] We will react in the next few days and know exactly how long that period will be,” Fernandes said.
Simmons told the Post that he should be fine to play Wednesday against the Pacers.
He took a shot in the knee in Sunday's loss and wasn't going to play Monday anyway because he hasn't yet been cleared to play on both ends of a back-to-back.
“He got hit, and he was dealing with some issues, and that's why he didn't play, because he got hit. And now it's back-to-back games, so he's not going to play. So now we'll see how it feels. But I'm not expecting much beyond that,” Fernandez said.
