NEW YORK — Jeff Green has been ruled out of the Nets‘ series opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday and his status will be “day-to-day” moving forward, according to Brooklyn coach Steve Nash.
“Just going to continue to monitor it and then over the course of the next two, three days, hopefully get a clearer picture,” Nash said Friday, when asked if there was any insight he could provide into Green’s availability for the remainder of the series.
Green has been dealing with plantar fascia strain in his left foot. Initially, he was ruled out for 10 days. He last played on May 25 in Game 2 of the Nets’ first-round series against Boston. Nash said that Green is currently working out with the team’s conditioning and performance staff, but declined to give further details on the workload he is currently able to manage.
Green has the defensive prowess to be a potential difference-maker in the Nets’ series against Brooklyn. The big man gives them a defensive anchor in a small-ball lineup alongside Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris.
Green started in all three of the Nets’ regular-season games against the Bucks and played 34 or more minutes in each while guarding two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Brooklyn was 1-2 in those games and never had all three of their “Big 3” available for a game.
Nash said that now, guarding Antetokounmpo will have to be done “by committee.” He said that there is a possibility DeAndre Jordan — who did not appear in the Nets’ first-round series against the Celtics — could spend time guarding the “Greek Freak.”
Nic Claxton and Blake Griffin will also be matched up against Antetokounmpo, Nash said.
“Jeff is a huge part of what we do,” Durant said Friday. “And we’re definitely gonna miss him out there, but we’re looking forward to other guys stepping up and filling that role until he’s ready. That’s what the playoffs are all about.”
Harden added that he feels confident in the Nets’ chances in this series, so long as they build on the defensive improvement they had shown in their last two games against Boston.
“We let Jayson Tatum get 50 on us,” Harden said, referring to Tatum’s performance in Game 3. “So, I think from that point on defensively we were locked in, we were engaged and we had spurts offensively where it was like, ‘Sheesh, this is crazy.’ And so now, that defensive mentality we have to have that consistently.”