Grizzlies vs. Nets injury report, odds, spread: Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving out Monday; Spencer Dinwiddie lost for season

The Brooklyn Nets received some bad news Monday morning in that guard Spencer Dinwiddie will miss the rest of the season due to a partially torn ACL in his knee suffered in Sunday's upset loss in Charlotte, meaning Dinwiddie may have played his final game for the franchise. Meanwhile, the Nets play the second of a back-to-back Monday night vs. the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, and Kevin Durant will sit out simply for an abundance of caution. The Nets are still 5.5-point favorites on the William Hill Sportsbook NBA odds. They were -7.5 at one point, and the spread probably will fall under 5. Update: Kyrie Irving is sitting too, so this spread will continue to plummet. 

Dinwiddie blew up last season as the team's top scoring option once Irving went down injured, averaging a career-best 20.6 ppg. Dinwiddie tested positive for COVID-19 in late June and did not join the Nets in the restart in Orlando. He's way down to 6.7 points per game in the early going this season because Durant and Irving are taking most of the shots. Irving is averaging 29.3 ppg and Durant 26.7.

The Nets first called Dinwiddie's injury a strained right knee Sunday night. It was a non-contact injury. He has a $12.3 million player option this offseason that he's likely to decline because he'll get a lot more money in free agency – probably more than the Nets can afford to bring him back because they are paying Durant and Irving so much.

Brooklyn can apply for a Disabled Player Exception for Dinwiddie. The exception would be worth $5.7M (50% of his salary) and could be used to sign, claim or trade for a player on the last year of his contract. With Dinwiddie out, Caris LeVert will have a larger role and could move into the starting lineup. The Dinwiddie injury also probably takes the Nets out of the running to trade for James Harden.

Durant, who is coming off an Achilles injury, had said that he would like to be available to play two days in a row but clearly the team wants to delay that a bit – especially as Monday is also part of a three-games-in-four-nights set. KD sure looks healthy in ranking 10th in the league in scoring and hitting 53.2 percent from the field and a whopping 69.2 percent from deep. 

Memphis (0-2) has lost both games at home by double digits so far even though reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant is averaging 36.0 points and 8.0 assists per game. The Grizzlies clearly miss stellar young big man Jaren Jackson Jr. He suffered a knee injury in the bubble and has yet to debut this year. Maybe next month.

The Grizzlies also are missing some depth players like Jontay Porter, Killian Tillie, Justise Winslow and De'Anthony Melton either because of injury or COVID-19 reasons. Memphis swept the 2019-20 season series with Brooklyn and has won its last two trips to the Barclays Center.

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