MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Harris, who has already missed twice as many games this season as he had in the previous four combined, has suffered setbacks in his rehab from ankle surgery.
“He’s had some flareups,” Steve Nash said before the Nets’ 136-125 loss to the Timberwolves. “I’m reluctant to talk about it because I’m not a doctor, so I don’t want to say the wrong thing. But he’s had some flareups, little setbacks here and there. But he’s continuing to stay positive and work on his rehab and try to overcome it.”
James Harden had said earlier he expected to see Harris back after next month’s All-Star break. Asked if it looked like it might take that long, Nash was noncommittal.
Harris, who hasn’t played since Nov. 14 versus Oklahoma City and had surgery 15 days later, sat out his 32nd straight game Sunday at Minnesota after missing just 16 from 2017-21. But he’s clearly had some hiccups in his recovery.
“Yeah, there’s been some awareness [of the injury] and irritation. He’s been doing kind of a tug-of-war between making progress and then having some irritation. It’s really a process that has been tricky and he’s just going to keep working at it,” said Nash. “But overall, he is improving in a lot of fronts.”
Nic Claxton (left hamstring) missed his seventh straight, but is hopeful of returning Tuesday versus the Lakers or the next night against the Nuggets.
“Physically I feel great. I’m a few steps out from playing, hoping to be back early next week,” said Claxton, who hasn’t played since Jan. 10. “Probably at home, barring any setbacks. It’s not 100 percent, but that’s where I’m hoping to be back. I was hoping to be back on this trip, but I’ve just got to listen to my body.
“It’s a hamstring injury: You want to take your time with hamstring injuries, so I don’t want to rush back and then have this thing linger. So I just want to take my time, get myself to where I need to be. … Just continue to let my body just do what it needs to do to feel 100 percent ready to be back out there, hooping.”
The Nets allowed 30 points in every quarter Sunday against Minnesota. The last time they had done that was 10 days ago against the Thunder. Before that, the last time had been in the 2020 Orlando bubble against the Celtics, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
David Duke Jr. (G League — two-way), Kevin Durant (left MCL sprain) and Paul Millsap (personal reasons) were all out.
Minnesota guard Patrick Beverley (ankle) was out