The San Antonio Spurs will play host to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday at AT&T Center.

The Spurs (30-22) enter Thursday's contest having rattled off three wins in a row, and most impressively, they have done so without star swingman DeMar DeRozan, who has been out with a sore left knee. It wouldn't be wise, however, for San Antonio to look too deep into its recent success sans DeRozan, as the team has won its last three games against the injury-plagued Pelicans, at home against Washington and at home against Phoenix, which required a game-winner from Rudy Gay in the closing seconds. Additionally, LaMarcus Aldridge has stepped up in a major way in DeRozan's absence, averaging 29.0 points and and 11.7 rebounds over those three games while shooting over 60 percent from the field. Regardless, DeRozan said he is feeling the best he's felt in weeks and is listed as probable to play Thursday, and with that, the Spurs will have a clean injury report should he officially be ruled active.

As for the Nets (28-24), they continue to be one of the hottest teams in the NBA as winners of seven of their last eight games. In fact, they have won 11 of their last 15 games, with their four losses coming against the Eastern Conference's elite (Bucks, Raptors and the Celtics twice). The biggest reason for their ongoing surge has been the play of D'Angelo Russell, who has helped fill the hole left by the absence of breakout star Spencer Dinwiddie (finger). Russell is coming off a 30-point performance in Tuesday's victory over the Bulls and is now averaging 27.2 points per game over his last six outings. The play of Russell and the Nets has capitulated them into a comfortable spot in the Eastern Conference standings, as they sit in the No. 6 spot and are 5.5 games ahead of the ninth-seed Wizards.