D’Angelo Russell-less Nets may be in for rough night vs. 76ers

PHILADELPHIA — D’Angelo Russell’s importance as the Nets’ leader and so-called alpha is clearest when they struggle without him.

And Brooklyn will be without him for Saturday’s game in Philadelphia, sidelined with a sprained right ankle.

The Nets are winless without Russell since his arrival, and it remains to be seen just how long he’ll be sidelined.

“It hurt. It hurt [when Russell went down],” said Trendon Watford, a forward who has been backing up Russell since Ben Simmons was bought out. “I knew it was going to be tough without him in the fourth. But I think it’s obviously rough when our starting point guard goes down. But knowing him, it’ll be alright.”

Russell had guided Brooklyn to a 60-55 edge on the league-leading Cavaliers Thursday when he blew by Max Strus and tried to stop in the lane.

He twisted his ankle, hopping off the floor with 8:39 left in the third quarter.

The Nets promptly surrendered a 28-11 run.

He left the game a plus-9, with every other Nets starter a minus-7 or worse.

“Yeah, very [damaging]. Veteran leader of this team, keeps things calm and centered. So for him to go down, that’s tough,” said Cam Johnson. “But we’ve got capable guys across the board. I don’t think it should’ve gotten out of hand.”

But it did, and often does when he’s off the floor — as he will be Saturday.

Brooklyn is a minus-7.8 when Russell has been off the floor.

That’s the worst it has suffered from the absence of any player.

Russell was on a knee scooter after the game, and has been ruled out vs. the 76ers — and perhaps longer.

“We don’t know how long he’s going to be out, and I’ve been playing point guard anyway, so it’s not going to be too much different. I’ll probably be getting more minutes,” said Watford, who’ll split point guard duties with 10-day signee Killian Hayes. “But [Russell] is scooting around, he’ll probably be alright.”

But not Saturday. And Russell is the one who stabilized the Nets and helped pull them within striking distance of the Play-In to draw comparison to the 2017-18 team.

“They’ve got D’Lo; so yeah, D’Lo is at the center of it,” said Kenny Atkinson, who coached that team. “It’s really interesting because he is a natural leader. He has natural charisma. I used to say with the Nets, he’s got star charisma. He really does. Whatever that DNA is, D’Lo — you can have your opinion about him — but D’Lo thinks he’s a star, knows he’s a star. And I love that about him.”

Russell earned his only All-Star berth that season, and his former coach pulled back the curtain on the guard’s innate leadership qualities.

“As he started maturing more and getting comfortable here and playing well, he started to lead me,” Atkinson said. “He’d call me after games. Sometimes I’d call him, but most of the time he’d call me, ‘Hey, we should do this. I think we need to make a change in the starting lineup. Man, we’re practicing too much.’ Whatever it is, we had this line of communication. So leadership from that standpoint.

“Then in the locker room, he started gaining a ton of respect, and started leading in there. I can’t imagine — he must be in the perfect place now. He’s seen it all. He’s at that age where I assume he’s the alpha in that locker room. I’m just a big fan of the player, big fan of the leader, big fan of the person.”

Cam Thomas will miss a 22nd straight game with a left hamstring strain. But he had his first 5-on-5 practice Thursday and came through with no problems.

“Recovery is going great,” Thomas told YES Network. “My first 5-on-5 (Thursday), so that was good, get back on the court playing. But recovery has been great, and you know, can’t wait to get back on the court.