Nets forward Andrei Kirilenko to return from ankle injury on Friday

Andrei Kirilenko has played in only 37 games this season, with one start. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Nets have been one of the league's top teams since the All-Star break, going 15-7 since Feb. 19, and they've won a franchise record 14 straight at home.

With Brooklyn (40-34) still in contention for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the team learned that it will get back forward Andrei Kirilenko on Friday against the visiting Pistons, according to ESPNNewYork.com's Mike Mazzeo.

The 33-year-old had been out the last six games with a sprained left ankle.

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But Kevin Garnett (back spasms) will miss his 19th straight game, Mazzeo reports. He will work out on Friday to see if he can play Saturday night in Philadelphia, according to coach Jason Kidd.

Kirilenko said he and Garnett played 1-on-1 with contact in practice on Thursday, and said "it was good."

Kirilenko has played 37 games this season, averaging 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the field.

The Nets are 13-5 without the 37-year-old Garnett, but only 3-3 in their last six, when they have allowed an average of 107.7 points per 100 possessions, according to Mazzeo. With Garnett in the lineup, that number is 100.6.

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