Nets Coach Steve Nash announced that James Harden, Paul Millsap, and Jevon Carter cleared protocols on Thursday, opening the door for the Nets to travel to LA on Friday to play the Lakers on Saturday.
The League requires that teams have at least eight available players in order to play. The franchise has 11 players currently in health and safety protocols, including Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Kessler Edwards, Cam Thomas, and David Duke Jr. entered protocols on Thursday. Nash says he does not expect any players to clear protocols by Saturday. The staggering number of players resulted in three Nets games being postponed.
According to Nash, the Nets players in protocols have been “largely asymptomatic,” per CBS Sports’ James Herbert, and the players with symptoms have mostly had “very mild” cases.
It forced the postponement of three games, including their Thursday game against the Portland Trail Blazers, since the Nets did not have enough players to travel and play.
The Nets (21-9) and Lakers (16-16) are the prime-time Christmas matchup on Saturday. Any delay to that game, if needed, could be made as late as Christmas Eve.
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