Sore groin forces Ky to sit out

The Nets’ Big 3 was down to a Big 1 — with James Harden the last man standing — after Kyrie Irving was scratched from Wednesday’s 124-115 win at Indiana.

Irving was ruled out around 2:30 p.m. with right groin soreness. After Irving had poured in a game-high 34 points in Monday’s win over the Knicks, Nets coach Steve Nash said he didn’t think the groin issue would be serious or long-term.

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“He just was feeling something a little bit,” Nash said. “And just precautionary, don’t want to inflame it or make it worse than it is, so going to sit out.”

Irving is ninth in the NBA in scoring (27.6 points) and leading the league in offensive rating (121.5).

With Irving out, Nash rewarded red-hot Landry Shamet for his recent play. Shamet — who shot 40.5 percent from 3-point range in February and was at 50 percent so far this month — got his first start of the season but scored just three points.

Caris LeVert had 19 points in his first game against the Nets since being traded for Harden in mid-January. It was just his third game back after surgery to remove a cancerous mass in his left kidney found during his Pacers physical.

“Pretty good,” LeVert said. “I still don’t have my wind all the way. My legs are still a little heavy, and I’ve been working my way back into just rhythm and conditioning. But I feel better than last game, and last game was better than [the first game], so for me it’s all about being better than I was yesterday. I feel better, so I’m just going to keep getting better.”

Said Nash: “Caris is incredibly loved in our locker room and within our organization, the front office, the performance team, coaching staff, teammates. He’s a world-class guy. We feel incredibly grateful that whatever happened, however this came about, he seems to be through it and the prognosis for his future is outstanding.”

Jeff Green and Tyler Johnson each had 15 points for the Nets.