Kevin Durant, James Harden out; Nic Claxton, Reggie Perry on health and safety protocols

There are some surprises to the Nets status report for Tuesday’s game against the ... none of them good surprises. It is a lengthy injury report that listed seven players out. With LaMarcus Aldridge still not waived, that means the Nets will have only nine players available in New Orleans.

The big news, of course, is that Kevin Durant, who suffered a left thigh contusion in Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat, has been ruled out. The Nets superstar sustained the injury off a drive when Trevor Ariza’s knee made contact with Durant’s thigh.

While the news about KD wasn’t much of a surprise, the presence of Nic Claxton, 22, and Reggie Perry, 21, on the status report —and the reason, the league’s NBA health and safety protocols — was the big surprise. The team didn’t release any further details on the Nets young big men including how many games they could miss or why they were placed in the protocols.

Steve Nash told reporters following Monday’s loss that Durant would be evaluated Monday but no further details about his injury were released. No word on whether he underwent a scan in the Big Easy, for example. The Nets head coach also said he expects Durant will remain on the road trip despite suffering the injury.

“I think so. I’d imagine that since he’s on the trip, he’ll stay on the trip and get treatment for the rest of the way,” Nash said Sunday.

James Harden will miss his seventh game with a right hamstring strain. This is the first time since the 2017-18 season that the durable Harden has missed seven straight contests.

Sean Marks told reporters on Friday that Harden is progressing well in his rehab and needs a couple more ramp-up days of practice before taking the court but didn’t provide a timetable for his return.

“James is progressing well. He’s looking forward to having at least one or two play days, which means he’ll play four-on-four, five-on-five with the group in practice. Hopefully, if things go smoothly like that, he’ll be out and joining the guys in a game,” Marks said. “He’s progressed well. He’s met his markers after this point. We’ll just continue to progress along and hopefully, it’s not too much longer.

“At this point, I can put a timetable on whether it’s two days, five days, or so forth.”

Tyler Johnson remains out with right knee soreness. Johnson, who will miss his eighth game Tuesday, has been running and rehabbing his knee but hasn’t played, according to Nash.

“He has been doing some running. He’s definitely been doing rehab and strengthening but I have seen him on the court shooting and running,” Nash said Sunday. “He has not played yet so, not sure if that's coming this week or not. Depends literally on every day how he responds to his rehab and hyping his amount of mobility and activity. Hopefully, he’ll be back soon.”

Chris Chiozza remains likely done for the remainder of the regular season with a fractured third metacarpal in his right hand and Spencer Dinwiddie (right knee) are the other two players on the report.

• Brooklyn Nets rule Kevin Durant out vs. New Orleans Pelicans with thigh contusion - Malika Andrews - ESPN
• Nets may avoid the worst even with Kevin Durant ruled out - Brian Lewis - New York Post
• With Kevin Durant out again, Nets’ injuries can hurt postseason chances - Greg Logan - Newsday
• Nets’ Kevin Durant, James Harden out against Pelicans - Coby Green - SNY
• Nets’ Durant ruled out for Tuesday with thigh contusion - AP