Brook Lopez will miss the remainder of the season with a broken foot.
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Just when you thought the Nets season was getting better they have reportedly suffered their biggest loss yet.
Gary Tanguay of Comcast Sports Net New England was the first to report Nets center Brook Lopez will miss the remainder of the 2013-14 season due to a broken right foot. The Nets confirmed the injury on Twitter, but did not commit to Lopez missing the entire remainder of the season.
The blow could be crippling to a Nets team which is now 9-17 after a bad overtime loss at the buzzer to the lowly Sixers Friday night in Philadelphia.
Lopez reportedly suffered the injury to the fifth metatarsal in the third quarter against the 76ers and still played the rest of the game.
The right foot is the same one Lopez had surgically repaired in 2011. He fractured the foot in a preseason game against the Knicks and had a screw placed in the foot. He played just five games that season.
Lopez is now developing a worrisome history of foot and ankle injuries. He has already missed nine games in 2013 with two separate ankle injuries.
The 2012-13 All Star was leading the Nets in scoring at 20.7 points per game. His player efficiency rating (PER) of 25.80 is seventh in the NBA.
The Nets will likely have to look for bigger contributions from reserve center Andray Blatche and starting power forward Kevin Garnett. They could also slide Garnett to center and start Mirza Teletovic at power forward. Teletovic started on Friday for Garnett, who was resting, and played a career-high 33 minutes. He hit a career-high six 3-pointers and scored 18 points.
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.
