Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin will be reevaluated in one week after being diagnosed with a right leg bone bruise, the team announced Thursday. Demin exited with the injury during the second quarter of Tuesday's loss to the Boston Celtics and did not return.
He said postgame that the injury was “nothing serious.”
“I'll be good. It’s nothing serious. I’ll be ready to go,” Demin told reporters. “I just got hit, got kneed in kind of like a muscle, bone area… Now it feels better than it did right away. I think I’ll be ready in a couple of days.”
Here's the full sequence leading up to Egor Demin's exit. From what I can see, he may have bumped knees with Paul George while guarding his drive.
Egor is out for the rest of the game. The Nets are calling it a right-leg contusion. pic.twitter.com/hddspInmJh
— Erik Slater (@ErikSlater_) October 28, 2026
Egor Demin on his leg injury:
“It’s nothing serious. I’ll be ready to go… I just got kneed in the muscle/bone area… Now it feels better. I think I’ll be ready in a couple of days.” pic.twitter.com/9II4h4n4z2
— Erik Slater (@ErikSlater_) October 28, 2026
Demin has underwhelmed early this season following a promising rookie campaign. The sophomore posted two points on 1-of-3 shooting, with one rebound, two assists, and one turnover in 10 minutes before exiting on Tuesday. He entered the matchup averaging 9.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers on 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) shooting from the field and 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from three across Brooklyn's first three games.
Egor Demin sidelined for at least one week due to right leg injury
Head coach Jordi Fernandez spoke pregame Tuesday about areas the Nets want to see Demin improve.
“I think that him being aggressive has been a point of emphasis throughout the summer, and I think he's done a good job. He's more comfortable handling and getting into the paint and making decisions from there,” Fernandez said. “There's still a lot of [room for] growth, but I think that he's gotten better. We all know how real the shooting is. I think he showed that in Cleveland with [that fourth quarter] run, which he was a big part of. And then defensively, physicality, finding the spots and technique, knowing where and how he needs to do it. And again, I think he's gotten better, and now every game is more reps for him to embrace all those scenarios.”
Article Continues BelowWhile Demin showed dramatic improvement as a driver at this year's Summer League, he's struggled to get downhill and finish to open this season. The 20-year-old is 3-of-8 from two-point range in his first four games. He was 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) during the preseason.
“You touch the paint, obviously you can spray it for your teammate to shoot a good shot or you finish at the rim, dump-off, so forth. I think all those reads [have been focuses],” Fernandez said of Demin's driving. “One of the conversations that I've had with him is that last year I felt like everything went a thousand miles an hour [for him]. And right now, one year in, with more games under his belt, it feels like he has more control of what he can see or what he sees or doesn't see. So again, we're going to keep working with him and encourage him to keep doing the things that he does very well, but also keep improving in all those areas.”
Sophomore point guard Nolan Traore replaced veteran Keon Ellis in Brooklyn's starting lineup against the Celtics. With Demin sidelined, Ellis could return to the starting unit.
Rookie point guard Mikel Brown Jr. played a season-high 28 minutes against the Celtics, scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. However, Fernandez said postgame that Brown won't be off his minutes limit “any time soon.”
The Nets return to action Friday against the Detroit Pistons.