The Brooklyn Nets were fined $25,000 on Thursday after the team sat eight players in a win over the Indiana Pacers over the weekend.
The NBA said the Nets failed to comply with league policies governing injury reporting. Brooklyn head coach Jacque Vaughn kept Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Joe Harris, Royce O’Neale, Nic Claxton, Seth Curry and T.J. Warren out of the game for Saturday’s 136-133 win.
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League officials have discouraged the roster management practice especially for nationally televised games and road games in hopes of increasing ticket sales. In Brooklyn’s case, Durant, Irving and Simmons have been either injured or rehabbing from injuries.
“When you have two or three guys, rotational guys out, it puts a strain and a stress on two or three more guys, and then we’re really not in a position of taking care of the team in total,” Vaughn said after the game. “We think, how does it affect everyone else so we can get to a place where, next week, we’re looking at ourselves in the mirror with pretty good health mentally and physically.”
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle understood the strategies.
“What’s happening tonight, this is part of playing, this is a very extreme case,” he said Saturday. “In coaching when you’re managing a team as an executive, minutes accumulate, aches and pains this time of year, you’re thinking big picture and a day at the right time can really help a player over the next two weeks type of thing.”
Brooklyn is on a four-game winning streak. Their next game is Friday night on the road against the Toronto Raptors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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