Nets rule out Noah Clowney, update Michael Porter Jr. timeline as absences mount before Knicks matchup

Noah Clowney was ruled out for Friday’s game against the Knicks at Barclays Center because of a sprained right wrist. Nets head coach Jordi Fernández added that the third-year forward is expected to miss Sunday’s road game against the Sacramento Kings as well. Clowney was removed from Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder because he was “really sore,” Fernández said, and the team plans to reassess after the next game. The 21-year-old has averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 62 games this season. “Obviously I had to take him out because he was really sore,” Fernández said. “And Noah, right away when I saw that he was in pain, I was like, ‘Do you need a sub?’ And I’m like asking the guys to take a foul to be able to sub out, and I ended up calling a timeout. So, he was pretty sore. He has a sprained wrist. He’ll be out tonight, most likely he’ll be out next game, and then we’ll go from there.” Fernández referenced Day’Ron Sharpe while explaining the team’s approach when a player wants to play through an injury. “I’m asking Day’Ron, I was like, ‘You OK?’ And he wanted to play through it, and then I had to take him out and take a look, and then he went back in, and all of a sudden, he needed to have surgery,” Fernández said. Fernández also provided an update on forward Michael Porter Jr., who has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain and is scheduled to be re-evaluated in two to three weeks. Fernández said the team will factor in a ramp-up period after the re-evaluation before Porter returns to full competition and said Porter’s return before the end of the season cannot be predicted. “Yeah, so two to three weeks, and then obviously there’s a ramp-up to go back to competition level, so we cannot predict, but it will be close,” Fernández said. “So, we’re going to go through these two, three weeks and then put the work in and so forth, and then we’ll see where we’re at.” On Sharpe, Fernández said the center has undergone thumb surgery to repair the torn ligament. “He just went through his thumb surgery to fix that torn ligament, and against a team like this that’s going to be extremely physical, we’re going to miss him,” Fernández said. “But at the same time, it’s that opportunity for others to focus on that.” In addition to Clowney, Porter and Sharpe, Brooklyn was also without Terance Mann and Egor Dëmin against New York.