Kevin Durant Expected to Return from Knee Injury for Nets vs. Heat

The Brooklyn Nets are 3-15 in their last 18 games, but help is on the way.

Kevin Durant is expected to play in the home game against the Miami Heat, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. During Brooklyn's victory over New Orleans in January, he last played in a game due to a knee injury.

This season is either a championship or bust for the Nets because of the expectations surrounding them and the talent on their roster.

The 32-31 team that is in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and looking at a potential spot in the play-in tournament for the Nos. 3-7 seeds has a major storyline to this point.

It is part of the problem, but Irving is ineligible to play in home games because he is unvaccinated. Ben Simmons has yet to play in a game this season, despite being traded to Brooklyn in a deal that brought James Harden to Philadelphia.

The team will get a major boost with the return of KD.

He is one of the best players in the league and averaged 29.3 points, 7.4 rebound and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 52.0 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three-point range prior to the loss.

Had he played the entire season with those numbers, he would have been in the discussion for the award.

The Nets are 4.5 games behind the sixth-seeded Boston Celtics, so making up that deficit will not be an easy task even with a healthy Kevin Durant leading the way. They have only 19 games left, and Irving can't play at home, while Simmons is still not available.

If the team is going to challenge for a title, it might be up to Kevin to put the team on his back.