LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris left the bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort on Wednesday to attend to a non-medical personal matter after the team’s 104-99 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Because of the NBA’s rules for quarantining after a player leaves the bubble, even if Harris returns as soon as Thursday, he will miss, at minimum, Games 3 and 4 of this series.
With the defending champion Raptors holding a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven affair, that could mean that Harris has played his last game as a Net this season — and possibly for good, given that he will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
Harris had 14 points and 15 rebounds in 39 minutes for the Nets on Wednesday. Garrett Temple lost the ball when Harris tried to hand it off to him in the closing seconds with the Nets trailing by three.
“We got the ball in the hands of our shooter,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said, referring to Brooklyn’s inbounding the ball to Harris, who was guarded by Kyle Lowry. “Good defense by Kyle Lowry. But the ball was intended for Joe.”
The Nets have been short-handed in their time in the bubble. Kevin Durant has missed the entire season because of an Achilles tear. Kyrie Irving was limited to 20 games this season because of shoulder problems. Rookie Nic Claxton had knee surgery and never came to the bubble. Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, Taurean Prince and Wilson Chandler opted out of participating.
Brooklyn will next have to deal with the loss of Harris, who has developed in Brooklyn into one of the league’s best 3-point shooters. Harris, who turns 29 on Sept. 6, averaged 14.5 points per game this season and shot 42.4% from 3-point range.
