Steve Nash hopeful Kyrie Irving plays Wednesday, will practice Tuesday

Prior to Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Steve Nash said that he is hopeful Kyrie Irving will return Wednesday when the team travels to Cleveland to face the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nash and the Nets want Irving to continue to get his legs back. While noting Irving got some work in yesterday, a little more today, and will tomorrow as well.

“We just want him to ramp up accordingly,” Nash said. “We want to protect him from unnecessary injuries so I think he got some work in yesterday, possibly today, and he’ll get some work tomorrow. We will go to Cleveland and hopefully, he will be available Wednesday night.”

Irving is set to practice with the “Stay-ready” group during Tuesday’s practice. As for the other Nets, Tuesday appears to be a film session and scripting for Wednesday’s matchup against the Cavaliers.

“We’ll set him up so he can play a little bit,” Nash said about Tuesday’s practice. “We won’t practice per se because we got to save legs with the amount of games we are playing so film, walkthrough, and script some stuff but we’ll set up with some of the stay-ready group for him to play.

“What you want to see is just him to get some time in his legs so he is more able to adapt back to playing. If you haven’t played, there is no way you can simulate it so it is important he gets a little bit of extra work and be as prepared as possible to play Wednesday.”

As for the communication between Irving, Nash, and the Nets, the 46-year-old head coach wants to continue to keep all conversations in-house. Nash and the Nets are excited to have Irving back in a Nets uniform.

“I am going to keep all the discussions we have in-house,” Nash said. “We continue to communicate and we welcome him back tomorrow. We look forward to seeing him and get back integrated with the team.”

Irving has missed seven straight games due to a combination of personal reasons, the league’s health and safety protocols, and ramping up basketball activities. The Nets point guard is averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in seven games for Brooklyn this season.

• Kyrie Irving ruled out by Nets for seventh straight game - Brian Lewis - New York Post
• Kyrie Irving misses 7th game in row as Nets bring him up to speed - Greg Logan - Newsday