#Kyrie Irving returns to Nets lineup, but not over injury

Kyrie Irving returned from his one-game absence wearing tape on his injured right index finger. He was effective — but hardly efficient and nowhere near pain-free.

“It sucks, man,” Irving said of the injury after Tuesday’s 122-111 loss in Detroit. “Just shooting very well on the season, want to continue. So, you just have different hiccups that happen, especially on my shooting hand.

“It’s uncomfortable, but at the same time I don’t want to make any excuses. I’m out there, put myself out there, do a lot of treatment on it and we’re down a few players obviously, as well, so you just want to go out there and compete and worry about the pain later. But doing the best I can.”

Irving, who injured the finger in Friday’s loss to the Raptors and sat out Saturday’s defeat in Philadelphia, had 27 points and seven assists. But he was visibly fiddling with his finger, and finished just 12 of 28 overall and 2 of 9 from deep.

Steve Nash didn’t think the injury would keep Irving out.

“I think he’s OK to continue,” Nash said. “I thought he played pretty well. It wasn’t classic by him, but he obviously had some incredible plays and produced, so I think there’s every reason to believe he can play through it and at the same time getting a comfort with where it’s at.

“Whatever the finger presents, the finger will present. And if he’s able to play, he’s a tough cookie and will play and if he’s not, he needs rest. So, we’ll see how it goes, but I think he’ll be able to play.”

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Iman Shumpert is expected to miss time with a hamstring injury.

“I think one of his early workouts he did something to it, and it’s going to take a little bit of time here,” Nash said. “I don’t know if I have a date for you, but a week or two is fair to say. We’ll just monitor the situation.”

“Let’s hope it’s not obviously going to keep him out long, and that he can get himself in shape. Because that was the thing: He was at the stage where he was trying to get himself into shape, and to have a setback like that, he’s still got to get himself in shape when he’s healthy again. We’re hopeful that it’s not so bad and he can get back there getting his rhythm and fitness back.”

Shumpert hasn’t played in the NBA since December 2019, when he was  let go by the Nets. He was living in Atlanta, driving 45 minutes to an hour to get into one gym, 15-20 minutes to lift at another, and an hour to Georgia Tech for treatment.

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Newly signed big man Noah Vonleh made his Nets debut with a scoreless three-minute cameo.

Norvel Pelle played in his second straight game, and finished with four points and a rebound in nine minutes.

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The Association reported that the Nets plan to host a limited number of fans at Barclays Center starting Feb. 23. The plan is to allow 200 fans in, with Platinum season-ticket holders getting first priority to buy tickets.