The Nets will be (almost) fully healthy for their meeting with the Spurs, except for Brook Lopez of course

Andray Blatche (hip) has missed Brooklyn's last two games, a loss against the Pacers and win over the 76ers. He, along with Joe Johnson (knee) and Andrei Kirilenko (calf) will return tomorrow night against San Antonio.

Kirilenko has missed the Nets' last three games, Blatche the last two, and Joe just the last one. However, those three will return for their team's next game on Thursday night. Brooklyn went 1-2 in the three games in question, dropping both heads of a brutal Thunder (in Brooklyn) and Pacers (in Indy) back-to-back last weekend. Jason Kidd's troops, now at 21-25, got a much-needed day of rest on Super Bowl Sunday (thanks for nothing, Broncos) then eeked out a too-close win over the dismal 76ers on Monday night at Barclays. A real challenge comes tomorrow in Brooklyn, though, as the banged-up Spurs come to town.

San Antonio played tonight, beating the Wizards in double overtime, and Tim Duncan played 40 minutes, meaning he probably won't go against the Nets on Thursday. Also, Tony Parker hurt his back in the game and Manu Ginobili has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for the last few nights. So it's quite possible a healthy Brooklyn squad will, on TNT no less, go up against a Spurs team without its three best players. Even with Popovich, that's gonna be tough for San Antonio.

Still, though, the Spurs can never be count out of anything, since they're probably the best coached group of players since Phil Jackson was at the helm of the Lakers with Kobe and Shaq. It's really important that Blatche, Joe, and AK will be back tomorrow night because it becomes a must-win game if as many Spurs are going to be out as it appears right now. Also, the Nets play the Pistons–a team they are 0-2 against this season–in Detroit the next night in another needed win.

There's no doubt that without Dray's scoring ability (not sure how to classify it) and size, Joe's clutchness and shot creation, and AK's on-ball and help defense capabilities, the Nets are a much worse team. Thankfully their injuries were just minor so Brooklyn can have its full complement of talent going forward.