Things keep going from bad to worse for the Brooklyn Nets. Expected to compete for the NBA Championship after their big offseason trade with the Boston Celtics, the Nets just can’t seem to get on track this year. Now they have learned that star centre Brook Lopez suffered a broken foot in Friday night’s overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and will be out for the season.
Though he missed nine games earlier in the year with an ankle problem, Lopez has been playing at an All-Star level this season when healthy, averaging 20.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots in 31.4 minutes per contest.
It is the same injury, a fractured fith metatarsal that limited Lopez to just five games in the 2011-12 season. He underwent surgery following last season to replace a bent screw in the foot.
Lopez played the entire game against the 76ers, and it is unclear when exactly the injury occured. He left the building Friday without talking to reporters.
The Nets have have Andray Blatche and Reggie Evans as possible replacements on the bench, or could move Kevin Garnett to center, where he has played in the past, including with the Boston Celtics last season.
Lopez signed a maximum contract for four years and $60 million with the Nets in the summer of 2012.
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