Yahoo Sports Down 2-0 vs. Raptors, Nets' Joe Harris exits NBA bubble for personal matter
Down 2-0 to the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Brooklyn Nets have lost yet another major contributor.
Nets guard Joe Harris, who ranks second on the team in scoring in the bubble, exited the NBA campus on Wednesday due to a non-medical personal matter, the team announced.
Joe Harris has left the NBA Campus in Orlando due to a non-medical personal matter. The status of his return will be updated as information becomes available.
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) August 19, 2020
Hours before exiting, Harris posted 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting with 15 rebounds in a 104-99 loss to the Raptors.
Per NBA rules, if Harris has an excused absence and gets tested for COVID-19 every day, he will only have to undergo a four-day quarantine upon return to the bubble. However, even if he returned Thursday, that would still keep him out of the bubble for Game 3 and 4 against the Raptors.
Nets keep losing quality players
Say this for the Nets, they are doing a lot better than the basketball world expected.
After all, what would you expect from a team that entered the bubble without Kevin Durant (still recovering from an Achilles tear), Kyrie Irving (season-ending shoulder surgery), Spencer Dinwiddie (tested positive for COVID-19 and opted out), DeAndre Jordan (tested positive and opted out), Taurean Prince (tested positive and opted out) and Wilson Chandler (opted out)? That’s essentially an entire starting lineup of players, and about $95 million out of the team’s $127 million payroll this year (which also includes Deron Williams’ $5.4 million in remaining salary).
The team ended up going 5-3 in the bubble with wins over contenders like the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks. Alongside Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen, Harris was a major reason for that showing with 20.0 points per game and red-hot 54.1 percent shooting from 3-point range in seeding games.
The Nets will now have to beat the Raptors in two games without Harris to continue their season. That might be a little too much to ask from such a group, but they have already exceeded expectations before.
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