Kyrie Irving will return to the Brooklyn Nets' starting lineup Sunday after an eight-game suspension.

The Nets posted a 5-3 record without Irving, who has been at the center of a month-long media circus following his posts of an antisemitic film. Irving issued a lengthy public apology before Brooklyn listed the guard as available for their matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Head coach Jacque Vaughn said Irving addressed the team prior to his return from the extended absence.

“We gathered as a team before shootaround. Just a chance for us to say, ‘right now we are going to think about basketball, we're going to think about winning this game.' So that was really a joint message from the group tonight,” Vaughn said pregame.

Vaughn's squad found success following Irving's suspension, posting the league's second-best defensive rating and 12th-best offensive rating during the eight-game span. Since the recently hired head coach shed the interim tag, Brooklyn has shown improved effort and buy-in on both ends of the floor. And Vaughn said he has no doubts about Irving's ability to help the Nets continue that trend.

“He’ll fit right in. The things that we’ve been really trying to do in terms of keeping simple and playing hard, he’s pretty good at that,” he said. “I have no trepidation that Kyrie is going to be able to fit in and play extremely hard. He has that ability.”

Kevin Durant shouldered the burden as Brooklyn's lone go-to scorer without Kyrie Irving, averaging 28.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists on 53.0 percent shooting. Several role players have also received expanded offensive opportunities with teams frequently doubling Durant.

The Nets' ball movement with Durant facilitating out of the post has been a change-up from their isolation-heavy style of years past. Regardless of Irving's isolation scoring prowess, Vaughn said the guard's feel for the game will allow him to fit in with Brooklyn's recent team-oriented success.

“We want him to play with his instincts. That’s what makes him special,” Vaughn said. “So I will incorporate that into the offense as far as him being able to handle, him being able to be a screener, him being able to be a guy that can pressure defensively also.”

Irving averaged 26.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists in eight games to open the season. The Nets will look to build upon a hard-fought win over the Portland Trail Blazers when they return home from a four-game West Coast trip to host Memphis Sunday.