Deron Williams will be out indefinitely with both his ankles receiving cortisone and PRP shots.
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Just as the Nets seem to be turning it around with their second three-game winning streak of the season, the issues surrounding Deron Williams and his troublesome ankles continue.
The Nets announced Tuesday afternoon Williams was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle and will miss Wednesday’s game against Golden State. They also said he will be in a walking boot and the ankle will be re-evaluated at the end of the week.
Additionally, the Nets said Williams was treated with a cortisone shot in the ankle joint, as well as platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections into the lateral ligaments of the ankle. Williams received a PRP injection into his right ankle and a cortisone injection into his right ankle joint to relieve inflammation as well.
Williams has missed 12 games this season. The Nets are 4-8 in games Williams has missed. Their four wins without Williams have been at Phoenix, at Toronto, vs. Milwaukee and Monday’s 91-86 home victory over Atlanta.
Before this season, Williams had ankle injuries in 2008-09 when he missed 13 of Utah’s first 15 games with a second-degree ankle sprain. He also was limited to 12 games after the Nets first acquired him in February 2011 with a nagging wrist injury.
Last season, Williams missed the final two games before the All-Star break with ankle injuries and his treatment included a third round of cortisone shots. Before the break, he averaged 16.7 points on 41.3 percent shooting and afterward, he averaged 22.9 points on 48.1 percent shooting.
After Wednesday, the Nets have a back-to-back with a home game against Miami Friday and a visit to Toronto Saturday before playing the Hawks next Wednesday in London, England for their only game next week.
Williams’s injury saga began this season when he showed up at a charity event in September in a walking boot due to a sprained right ankle suffered in an offseason workout in Utah.
Before this latest development, Williams had scored 20 points in consecutive games for the first time all season while making 17-of-27 shots and playing 79:07.
Without Williams, Shaun Livingston and Tyshawn Taylor have been the starting point guards. Livingston, however, started the last two games as the Nets played Williams off the ball more. Livingston and Alan Anderson comprised the starting backcourt in Brooklyn’s 16th different starting lineup Monday night.
The Nets will likely also lean on Joe Johnson more to compensate for Williams’s latest absence. Johnson scored 23 points on 10-of-22 shooting Monday for his best game since getting 37 on 10 3-pointers Dec. 16 against the 76ers.
In the previous 12 games Williams has missed, Johnson is shooting 43.1 percent (79-of-183) while averaging 16.8 points.
Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.
