Kyrie Irving ruled OUT against Heat

Kyrie Irving (paternity) will not play against the Heat Thursday night.

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Prior to Thursday's preseason game against the Heat, Steve Nash officially ruled Kyrie Irving (paternity) out. The Nets head coach pointed out Irving has been sleep-deprived since the birth of his new child on Tuesday. There's not much of a timeframe for Irving's absence.

“No not really," said Nash on a timeframe for Irving. "Kyrie, I don’t think he’s got much sleep the last couple of nights so he was trying to get here tonight to support his teammates, but no point in the preseason. I think on little sleep playing tonight." 

Along with Irving, who was on the bench Thursday night, the Nets will rest Joe Harris against Miami. The Nets head coach said the decision is out of precaution. 

"Joe, just being cautious," Nash said. "You know, he's had a long layoff for the surgery, and so hopefully it's resolved quickly. But it's more precautionary than anything.”

Royce O'Neale, who served as Brooklyn's sixth man against the Sixers Monday night, and Kessler Edwards, who saw 15 minutes of action against Philadelphia off the bench, will start in the place of Irving and Harris. Ben Simmons, Kevin Durant, and Nic Claxton will get the starting nods for the second straight preseason contest. 

"He is a tough guy to game plan for because so much of what he does is in the open court or those unscripted plays," said Erik Spoelstra on game planning Ben Simmons. "His size, his ability to pass and his passing angles are much different than smaller players, he can just throw it over the top of a lot of different coverages. You're just happy he's back out there, competing again

The starting wing for Brooklyn appears to be a competition between O'Neale and Harris. In the Nets head coach's eyes, he doesn't view it as competition considering he plans on playing both veteran wings a lot. 

“I think they are both going to play a lot. I don’t knosxw if one is taking minutes from the other," Nash said. "I think I feel they are both going to play a lot of minutes and play a big role."