Nets sit Kevin Durant, rest of rotation players in 2nd game of back-to-back vs. Pacers

The Nets rested every key rotation player — with the exception of Yuta Watanabe — in the second game of a back-to-back against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. It’s the team’s first blatant case of load management, a necessity for teams posturing for a deep playoff run even if the league frowns upon the practice.

But at times, it can be quite comical. An hour after Friday’s win over the Atlanta Hawks, Kevin Durant said he expected to play Saturday, though he hedged that by saying he’d listen to whatever the training staff told him to do.

The Nets listed Durant as out due to right knee injury management Saturday morning. Durant, on more than one occasion, has said of his minutes workload: “Let me die out there on the court.”

The Nets also listed Kyrie Irving out with left adductor tightness and Royce O’Neale out for personal reasons. Ben Simmons (left knee/calf), Seth Curry (left ankle), Joe Harris (left ankle) and TJ Warren (left foot) each have endured recent surgeries that could be aggravated playing both games of a back-to-back, and Nic Claxton missed his second straight game with tightness in his right hamstring.

It’s all part of an effort, as the team has emphasized, to reach peak health for the end of the regular season into the playoffs. And that load management starts and ends with Durant, the perennial MVP-contending superstar whose shoulders carry the Nets’ championship odds.

Durant continues to lead the NBA in minutes, and surprise-surprise, O’Neale ranks second. Durant has played so many minutes, he will continue to rank No. 1 even after his day off.

His legs are priority No. 1 for a Nets team that has won nine of its last 12 games. Durant won Eastern Conference Player of the Week last week. He is averaging 30 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game and uses 31% of the team’s offensive possessions.

Only Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Trae Young, Ja Morant, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo use more, and of those players, only Lillard, 32, is older than 28.

“The minutes are adding up. And I’m not sure where he sits at. I know probably he and Royce are probably top-five or seven or somewhere around there in minutes,” head coach Jacque Vaughn said after playing Durant 36 minutes against the Hawks on Friday. “I’ll be honest with you, we will always be smart. I told you: short-term, long-term. I’ll see how they came from this game, but the minutes are adding up. If we could get through tomorrow, the schedule is in our favor to get a little break. I’ll see how these guys feel after this.”

It will be easier for the Nets to better manage Durant’s minutes in the coming weeks. As Vaughn alluded to, Brooklyn’s schedule lightens significantly now that they’ve cleared this back-to-back.

For example, after Saturday’s matchup against the Pacers and Monday’s game in D.C. against the Washington Wizards, the Nets get three days off before Friday’s trip up north to face the Toronto Raptors. They play in Detroit against the Pistons two days later, then get two more days off before hosting Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors on Dec. 21.

O’Neale has also become an integral piece of the Nets’ rotation as a capable three-and-D wing and complementary ball handler who earned and kept the starting role in Harris’ absence. His minutes spiked when both Harris and Simmons left the lineup due to injury.

“Just cumulative games and minutes he’s played and what we’ve asked him to do,” Vaughn said. “Whether that’s guard the best player out there, whether it’s initiate our offense at times, whether it’s rebound the basketball. He’s kind of in that bucket that we talked about earlier with the guys who do need some time off and reduced minutes, and he’s definitely on the list.”

Saturday’s DNP fest was a necessity. It’s a step in prioritizing the long-term vision, even if it means the Nets sacrifice a game because they’re undermanned against the Pacers. That long vision is a championship parade across the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic, and that’s not possible if Seven, Eleven and every rotation player one through 10 isn’t healthy at the end of the regular season.

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