Wednesday was a double whammy for the Nets, who, moments after losing Game 2 of their playoff series to the Raptors in heartbreaking fashion, announced that sharpshooter Joe Harris has exited the NBA's Orlando bubble due to a "non-medical personal matter."
The team released only a brief statement saying that Harris left, and "The status of his return will be updated as information becomes available."
However, due to the NBA's quarantine rules for players leaving and re-entering the bubble, Harris will miss at least two games even if he returns on Thursday – and with the Nets down 2-0 in their best-of-seven series, it is possible that the pending free agent has played his final game as a Net.
With the Nets/Raptors series playing every other day, Game 3 is Friday and Game 4 is Sunday, so Harris will definitely miss both of those given the NBA's minimum four-day quarantine requirements, and he would need to return by Friday to even be eligible for a potential Game 5, as well.
That is a tremendous loss for Brooklyn, a team already down several stars and rotation players in the bubble due to injuries and opt-outs. Harris averaged 20 points per game on 62 percent shooting and 54.1 percent from three-point range in the eight seeding games, then had 19 points in Game 1 against Toronto (on 57.1 percent shooting and 60 percent from long range) and added 14 points and a career-high 15 boards in Game 2.
Harris, whose two-year deal expires this offseason, has become a budding star since joining the Nets in the summer of 2016. The 28-year-old affectionately known as "Beef Jerky Joe" or "Joe E. Buckets" averaged 14.5 points per game overall this season and shot 42.4 percent from three-point range, and in four seasons in Brooklyn, he has averaged 12 points per game and shot 43 percent from beyond the arc, also twice competing in (and once winning) the league's three-point contest.
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