James Harden experienced a setback while conducting an on-court rehab session on Monday.
Harden initially suffered a strained hamstring against the Houston Rockets, on March 31.
Two games later, against the Knicks , he aggravated the injury and has been sidelined since. The initial prognosis for Harden pointed towards being sidelined 7-10 days. However, the Nets have announced that Harden’s latest setback will have him remain out indefinitely.
“Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden experienced a setback while conducting an on-court rehab session on Monday. Following an evaluation today which included an MRI, Harden will remain out indefinitely. Updates regarding his status will be provided as appropriate,” the Nets said in a statement.
The injury report has become the lead story this season for the Nets in their pregame press conferences.
“We’re back to square one,” Nets head coach Steve Nash said about Harden’s latest injury setback. “He will be back when he’s back. It might be the playoffs. It might be sooner.”
The combination of Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving has played only seven games together since Harden was acquired from Houston earlier this season.
Durant is out again, this time with a thigh contusion picked up Sunday in Brooklyn’s loss at Miami. Nash, however, did provide a more positive outlook on Durant’s status with a “day-to-day” outlook.
A dim reality-check for this Nets team
The Nets have only 15 games remaining in the regular season. With the playoffs quickly approaching, a dim reality is beginning to set-in over Barclays Center.
If they’re able to become whole in time, and that’s a big if, there’s still the adjustment period this team must go through.
Can a team, with championship aspirations this year, come together on the court in such a short amount of time?
This team has been dealing with an unstable roster for most of this season. There’s been injuries, players in and out of the lineup, trades, and retirements. And with all of this, they’re still just one game behind the 76ers for the top spot in Eastern Conference.
But they need to be healthy in order to excel in the playoffs, and, so far, that just hasn’t been the case.
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