Yi and Nets find pinkie injury bad break

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-12 09:09

Yi Jianlian was just starting to get his timing down on the court. The timing of his broken right pinkie, however, couldn't have been worse.

Yi Jianlian of the New Jersey Nets holds his right hand on the bench during the NBA game against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 9 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [Agencies]

Yi, the Nets' 7-foot power forward, broke the finger in the third quarter of the Nets' 104-102 loss in Milwaukee on Friday night. He had 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting at the time, putting him on pace for his third consecutive game with at least 20 points. His 22-point and 20-point performances in the previous two games marked the first time in his career that he had reached that mark in back-to-back games.

Yi is expected to miss four to six weeks.

"Lousy timing," team president Rod Thorn said. "He'd been playing well."

Yi is averaging 10.5 and 6.2 rebounds in his first season with the Nets. His play has been rather inconsistent but he had a big game against the Kings last Monday, scoring 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds and followed that with a 20-point game against Memphis on Wednesday. He hit three of his four 3-point attempts against the Bucks before getting hurt.

Yi admitted before the game that he was excited playing against Milwaukee, which traded him and Bobby Simmons to the Nets for Richard Jefferson in June. He even said his recent hot streak was at least partly due to his desire to impress the Milwaukee fans, who were critical of him when he played there.

Yi hurt himself while reaching for a loose ball.

"It happens," he said. "(I'll) just take my time. I'll come back."

The Nets, who had Saturday off but practice this morning, have plenty of options to replace Yi in the starting lineup beginning Monday against Oklahoma City at the Meadowlands.

Eduardo Najera, who battled injuries earlier in the season, has been playing more lately. Simmons could also slide over from the small forward spot. Rookie Ryan Anderson is also an option, but he has been out of the rotation recently, battling back problems.

Stromile Swift, who has been dealing with personal issues for several weeks, is due back soon and could see time at the power forward spot, as could Josh Boone, the former starting center who lost his spot to rookie Brook Lopez.