Nets’ Lonnie Walker IV not expected to play during west coast road trip

The Brooklyn Nets took advantage of a short break in the schedule thanks to how the NBA’s In-Season Tournament was set up along with the Nets not making the Quarterfinals. Brooklyn travels to Atlanta to take on the Hawks on Wednesday, but will be doing so without another player who will be missing significant time.

Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said to the media at practice on Tuesday that reserve guard Lonnie Walker IV, who is averaging 14.6 points per game as arguably the team’s best bench players, will not travel to Atlanta for the Hawks game due to his left hamstring strain. Vaughn also added that it looks like Walker will not playing during Brooklyn’s five-game west coast road trip after they face the Washington Wizards at home on Friday.

Saturday’s game against the Orlando Magic was Walker’s first game missed this season due to injury and while he has dealt with a left knee issue for the majority of the season, Walker has still been able to play. It looks like Walker will miss at least seven more games before coming back.

Here are other news that came out of Nets practice on Tuesday:

Dorian Finney-Smith Seems To Be Good To Go

Finney-Smith missed Saturday’s win over the Magic due to right knee/foot soreness. Before facing the Magic, Vaughn said that Finney-Smith being out was more of an accumulation of the minutes that he was playing rather than any one play that caused the soreness to occur. He was a full participant in practice so it seems like he’s good to go moving forward.

Spencer Dinwiddie Credits Kevin Ollie For Pregame Speech Prior To Beating Magic

After Saturday’s 28-point win over the Orlando Magic, assistant coach Kevin Ollie was given credit for his pregame speech to get the players ready to compete following a disappointing loss to the Charlotte Hornets. Spencer Dinwiddie gave his thoughts on Ollie’s speech as well.

Story originally appeared on Nets Wire