The day has finally arrived when Kyrie Irving makes his much awaited, and in many ways controversial, return to the Brooklyn Nets.

In second place in the Eastern Conference at 23-12, the Nets now trail the Chicago Bulls by two full games. But all eyes are on the seven-time All-Star, born in Melbourne Australia, set to return Wednesday versus the Indiana Pacers.

The game versus the Pacers (14-24 for the 13th seed in the East) is on the road, so Irving is eligible to play. Of course, he cannot appear in any of Brooklyn's home games since he is not vaccinated. The last update on that subject is that the Nets haven't discussed that with him since he returned to practice following a stint in health and safety protocols.

Does the team anticipate any availability changes before tip off?

“God I hope not,” joked Steve Nash, not hiding his excitement at returning one of the games brightest stars to his rotation.

“I think he's able to play a good chunk of minutes,” Nash added, “but we're not gonna push him into the high 30's if we can at all avoid it, so I think the sweet spot is probably somewhere around 30. He has looked capable, and has had the requisite high intensity workouts so he's ready to go.”

Minutes have been an important theme with this Nets squad all year. Kevin Durant is second in the NBA in minutes per game with 36.9 and James Harden is fifth with 36.5. Both 30-somethings will welcome a lift to the team's overall scoring burden. Patty Mills, the biggest beneficiary of Irving's vacant minutes to date, has logged a career high 30.6 minutes per game. Brooklyn's third leading scorer and former San Antonio Spurs star figures to revert back to more of his natural reserve guard position with Irving's return.

Will Irving provide an emotional boost to a team on a three game skid?

“That would be great, but it could go the other way too,” cautioned Nash. “He could feel very uncomfortable being in his first game. So I want to give him some space, to be able to play well, to play mediocre, or play poorly. It's not fair to expect him to come back and cure all of our ills.”

The Nets have been a good team defensively most of the year, ranking seventh in defensive rating per NBA.com. But over the last few games, that has been a real struggle. Irving won't help with their defense, but he should, once he's back in a groove, reduce their need to get stops.

Last season, the Nets weren't great at getting stops but had the most efficient offense in the league. They might need to settle into some happy medium in that regard for 2022.

Is Irving extra excited, or anxious about his return?

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“You can see the smile on his face and the energy and what it means to him to be back, it's exciting for all of us to have him back in full,” added Nash.

But how will he fit in will that present a challenge?

“Maybe I'm taking it for granted but Kyrie is–the game is not overly complicated for him. So I have a feeling he'll find his space, and his timing and his cracks in our offense whether he has the ball or the ball finds him. I think it's more about him just getting back to playing the game, contact, the cadence of the NBA game, the feeling of being out there with his teammates more so than the technical ability to fit in,” Steve Nash shared.

Kyrie Irving can get this game under his belt. And then next road game isn't for a week. That's when the Nets will take on MVP candidate DeMar Derozan, Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls in what's shaping up to be a monster game with playoff implications. Chicago is 2-0 against Brooklyn this year. That might change with Irving in the lineup.