Gameday: Suns Return Home to Host Nets

The Phoenix Suns are back home after a dismal road trip, and although the team has been plagued by injuries, some help is on the way.

Forward Cam Johnson is expected to play limited minutes in what will be his first taste of action since tearing his meniscus on Nov. 4.

That's exciting for a Suns team that has seen very little success as of late: They've dropped their previous nine-of-ten games and at the moment find themselves outside of the playoff picture in the West.

Plenty of time exists for that to change, however. Chris Paul practiced fully on Wednesday but is listed as questionable ahead of Thursday's matchup against the Brooklyn Nets.

Devin Booker, Cam Payne, Josh Okogie and Landry Shamet will be out.

Both teams hope to stop a three-game losing streak heading into Thursday, and the Nets have had to deal with their own stars dealing with injuries as well. Durant is set to be out for a few weeks with a sprained MCL suffered earlier in January.

Kyrie Irving is listed as probable with a right calf injury, which caused him to miss Brooklyn's last game.

Prior to their current losing streak, Brooklyn established themselves as one of the hottest teams in the league after winning 14-of-15 games.

The Nets do two things extremely well: shooting efficiently (50.6% from the field, only behind Denver) and blocking shots (7.0 averaged per game, the best in the NBA). They're also top five in points allowed per night with 110.5.

With Durant out of the picture, Irving (25.6 ppg) has stepped up for Brooklyn, but a supporting cast that includes Nic Claxton (12 points, 8.5 rebounds and a league-leading 2.7 blocks per night) and Ben Simmons (6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game) has helped propel the Nets to the No. 4 spot in the East, even in spite of their current losing streak.

Will the Suns catch Brooklyn looking ahead? Phoenix is stop No. 2 on a five-game road trip and is the first of a back-to-back for a Nets squad that battles the Utah Jazz the following night on Friday.

ESPN's basketball power index gives the Suns a slight 51.2% probability to edge out the Nets.