Kevin Durant set to face Suns
— -- Oklahoma City star forward Kevin Durant will return from a six-game absence Wednesday night when the Thunder host the Phoenix Suns, coach Scott Brooks confirmed.
Durant suffered a sprain to his surgically repaired foot Dec. 18, and OKC has taken it slowly with him since the injury.
Durant completed his first two full-speed practices since the injury Monday and Tuesday.
?After Monday's session, Brooks told local reporters: "He was very lively and active on both ends of the floor. He's progressing well."?
Durant missed the first 17 games of the season thanks to a Jones fracture in his right foot that required surgery to insert a screw to aid the healing process. He was nearing the end of the most prolific first half of his NBA career -- ?scoring 30 points in the first two quarters against Golden State -- when he suffered the sprain shortly before halftime after landing on the foot of the Warriors' Marreese Speights on a drive to the basket.
The Thunder (15-17) enter the final day of the calendar year as the West's 10th-placed team and 2½ games back of the eighth-place Suns. Durant has missed 23 of Oklahoma City's 32 games after missing just 16 over his first seven NBA seasons.
"When we become whole again, and we make another adjustment, I feel our team is as good as any team in this league," Brooks said Tuesday.
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