NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is expected to return Thursday night against the Miami Heat after missing a month and a half because of a sprained left MCL.
Durant, who was not listed in the injury report Wednesday for the first time since getting hurt in the Nets' Jan. 15 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, will provide a huge lift for a team that went 5-16 in his absence.
Without Durant on the floor, coupled with the timing of trading James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for a package of Ben Simmons (who has yet to play as he continues to deal with a back issue), Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two future first-round picks -- along with the ongoing absence of Kyrie Irving in home games because of the New York City vaccination mandate -- the Nets have slid to 32-31 and eighth place in the Eastern Conference.