Durant back for Nets after 3-game absence with thigh injury

NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant is back for the Brooklyn Nets against Phoenix after missing three games with a bruised left thigh. Durant was hurt last Sunday against Miami. Coach Steve Nash said the Nets would go in with the goal of playing the All-Star forward fewer than 30 minutes against the Suns. Durant has played in just five of the previous 32 games. In his first season back after missing all of last season while recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, he has been limited to just 24 games because of injuries and COVID-19 health and safety protocols.