Harden’s transient return got here after he missed the Nets’ previous two video games whereas coping with the identical tightness.
Before the sport, Brooklyn coach Steve Nash mentioned Harden wouldn’t be on a minutes restriction and the crew would monitor him all through the evening.
“We definitely don’t want to wear him out,” Nash mentioned earlier than tipoff. “So we’ll try our best, which is very difficult to do sometimes. We’ll try to limit his minutes if we have the opportunity.”
Nash reiterated that the imaging on Harden’s hamstring didn’t reveal structural harm, so the crew appeared to him and its coaching employees to determine when he felt nicely sufficient to play.
“I think he’s just in a position where there was fatigue,” Nash mentioned. “And the scan was clear, and he’s completed some workouts and feels good to go.”
The Nets have been already with out Blake Griffin (harm upkeep), Kevin Durant (hamstring pressure), Tyler Johnson (knee soreness) and Landry Shamet (ankle sprain). Nash mentioned that he doesn’t anticipate enjoying Griffin in each halves of any remaining back-to-back video games.
Harden, one of many frontrunners for league MVP, is averaging 26.1 factors, 8.9 rebounds and 11.2 assists for the Nets.