All season long, the Brooklyn Nets have been one of the NBA’s most dominant teams, but they have had some trouble keeping all of their star players on the court. Kyrie Irving has been on and off the court for several reasons, James Harden is currently out due to a hamstring injury and Kevin Durant has missed a handful of games due to multiple injuries. 

In his first season back since his Achilles injury back in the 2019 NBA Finals, Durant missed 26 games earlier in the season due to a hamstring injury and when he returned, he was quickly sidelined again with a thigh contusion. After missing three games with a thigh contusion, Durant finally returned to the court yesterday against the Phoenix Suns and came off-the-bench for just the third time in his career (all of his bench appearances coming this season). 

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When healthy, Kevin Durant is one of the best overall players in the NBA and is virtually unguardable given his size and skill. With him alone, the Brooklyn Nets would definitely be in the championship conversation, but with Kyrie Irving and James Harden by his side, the Nets seem like the team to beat in the NBA. 

But, a lot of the Nets chances to win a title this season hinder on whether or not they can stay healthy. Durant has only played in 25 games this season due to numerous injuries, Kyrie Irving has only played in 45 games and James Harden has played in 34 games for the Nets. 

With Durant back though, Brooklyn seems to be gearing up for what should be a very deep playoff run that could potentially end with a championship. Now, let’s look at three takeaways from Kevin Durant’s return against the Phoenix Suns the other day.