DALLAS — Nets guard Egor Dëmin is expected to make his return from a right leg injury Wednesday in New Orleans.
Dëmin practiced Tuesday in Dallas and is listed as probable against the Pelicans.
“Yeah, Egor practiced with the rest of the team,” Jordi Fernández said. “Now we’re doing a little extra session just to push him and see how he feels, and then we’ll make a decision that he has a chance to play.”
Dëmin suffered a bone bruise in his right leg during an Oct. 27 loss in Boston, and the second-year pro hasn’t played since, missing the past six games.
Brooklyn has missed the 6-foot-8 Dëmin’s secondary playmaking and plus size in the backcourt.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s good to see him back,” Michael Porter Jr. said. “He looks good.”
Even before the injury, Dëmin was off to a slow start. He was averaging just 7.8 points, 2.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds on 31 percent shooting and 28.6 percent from deep. All of those stats are down from his rookie campaign.
After making strides with his downhill juice and touching the paint in summer league, Dëmin’s 2-point shooting has backslid.
Wednesday will be Noah Clowney’s first opportunity to get back on the floor since losing his poise and fouling out in just 7:47 during Sunday’s loss in Dallas.
Fernández acknowledged Clowney’s need to curtail his emotions. Porter alluded to the impact coming off the bench has had on the young forward’s headspace after he started 60 games last season.
“Noah’s a great player. He’s one of my favorite players I’ve played with,” Porter said. “Obviously, his role changed this year. But Noah, when he’s at his best, he helps. He can help any unit he’s out there with. He could help any team, and he can obviously help us.
“We just have to have him in the right headspace. And I know it looks different for him than this year. But we need Noah to win games for sure.”
The Nets monitor ground covered during games, who is running and who is not.
“Atlanta was very simple — a team that was on the second night of a back-to-back outworked us … so that’s not good,” Fernández said. “We had the highest-intensity running in the first quarter of the whole season, which was a pretty good first quarter. And we had the lowest intensity of the season in the fourth quarter. So, it’s pretty self-explanatory.
“It also goes to us on how we rotate. Are they too tired because I’m running them too long? It’s all those things … why and how we can fix it.”
Nolan Traore is questionable with right calf soreness. Joshua Jefferson, Ben Saraf, Tyler Bilodeau and Grant Nelson are all out on G League assignments.
New Orleans’ Yves Missi (left knee contusion/bone bruise) is out, along with Trendon Watford (right ankle sprain).
Trey Murphy III is probable with bilateral patellar tendinopathy.
