06/22/2021, 10:50 PM

Cleared for basketball activies

The guard has recovered from a partial ACL tear in just over five months and will enter free agency this offseason. Over the past four seasons, he's averaged 16.2 points, 5.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game. Next year will mark his age 28 season.

06/21/2021, 6:41 PM

Unlikely to play for Team USA

Irving rolled his right ankle during Game 4 of the Nets' second-round series against Milwaukee, and while the team never provided a firm timetable, it looks like the ankle may require several more weeks to heal. Given the quick turnaround before the Olympics begin in late July, Irving is leaning toward sitting out in preparation for the 2021-22 NBA season, which will revert back to the traditional mid-to-late-October start date. Irving already has a decorated international career, having been named the tournament MVP at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. In 2016, he helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Rio. In the process, Irving became the fourth player ever to capture an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal in the same year, joining LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

06/20/2021, 5:34 AM

Scores inefficient 22 points

Both Harden and Kevin Durant played the full 53 minutes for the Nets, who forced overtime with a Durant jumper but were only able to score two points in the extra period. While Harden's hamstring held up, he still looked like a diminished version of his former-MVP self, often settling for heavily contested threes and hitting just two of his 12 attempts from downtown. He was effective from the free-throw line, however, and Harden narrowly missed what would have been his second triple-double of the postseason. With Harden hampered and Kyrie Irving (ankle) missing the last three games of the series, the Nets' season ended on a sour note, but Brooklyn figures to open next season as the odds-on favorite to emerge from the Eastern Conference, provided the star trio -- which was rarely healthy at the same time this season -- can stay on the floor.