With the return of the Brooklyn Nets' rotation — including Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — now on the horizon, they have survived a stretch which might well be looked back upon as the most difficult portion of their regular season when all is said and done. They've pieced together an identity as a scrappy, overachieving defense, and a team that competes even while missing lots of big name-players. Now sitting at 23-9 and looking to add some high-end talent, the Eastern Conference should be put on notice.

With the bombshell news that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have cleared health and safety protocols, things should be getting easier for an already dangerous Nets team. Brooklyn has already responded well to adversity (e.g. Irving's unwillingness to get vaccinated, some key injuries to Joe Harris), so their trajectory could take off in 2022.

“We've been kinda handling adversity throughout the whole season,” said Patty Mills after his masterful Christmas Day performance.

The Aussie star continues to ball out and dropped a season-high 34 points, draining 8-of-13 from deep. At just 6-foot-1 and 33 years old, Mills is an undersized inspiration. His lightning-quick release has tormented taller defenders all season long. He's playing the best basketball of his lengthy career, and that says a lot for the former San Antonio Spurs champion.

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“With different types of things,” continued Mills, “guys being in, guys being out, next-man-up type of mentality, so I think this was no different. Obviously the last, past week that we've had, it was exciting to get everyone back, not everyone, but some guys back so there was good energy there. But I think nothing has changed mindset-wise from what we've been doing up until this point being able to step up and deliver. … Tonight was a good example of having fun and figuring it out as we go.”

The figuring it out part Mills alludes to could have been a lot uglier than it has looked so far for the Nets through 32 games.

Similar to last season, when the Nets only fielded their superstar trio for eight regular-season games, they've fared well so far this time around too. Head coach Steve Nash deserves credit there. The Nets have the fifth-ranked defense, with no business ranking that high given their personnel as they continue to invent new ways to grind. If their best defensive player has been Nic Claxton, their third-year big has only appeared in 13 of the team's games. So, they've cobbled it together and learned on the fly.

Now some of that adversity could be in the rearview.

As Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and other players test out of protocols, and as they look to ramp up Irving's conditioning for road games in the new year, the mentality Mills describes can now transition from keeping afloat while shorthanded to optimizing a championship roster.

“Confidence is through the roof,” says Harden. “Now we just, you add KD, and LaMarcus, and Ky, and Joe Harris, I mean that's four of our best, four of our top players.”

Already in first place during what could very well be looked back upon as the hardest stretch of their season, the Nets are sitting pretty looking to return a few superstars, which will only make them more dangerous the rest of the way.