James Harden Reveals Severity of Hamstring Injury After Nets’ Game 7 Loss
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Kathy Willens/Associated Press
Brooklyn Nets star James Harden revealed that he played through a Grade 2 hamstring strain during the final three games of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
A hamstring strain previously limited the 31-year-old toward the end of the regular season, forcing him to miss all but three of the team’s final 24 games.
The 2017-18 MVP was on the floor to open the playoffs and appeared in all four of the Nets’ wins in a first-round sweep of the Boston Celtics. However, he exited Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks after just 43 seconds.
He then returned for Brooklyn’s Game 5 win.
The Nets looked like the team to beat in the East after they steamrolled the Celtics, but the injuries to Harden and Kyrie Irving illustrated the dangers of overwhelmingly orienting a roster around a small number of stars.
Harden gave it his all, though, playing 53 minutes in Brooklyn’s Game 7 overtime loss on Saturday night. He finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and four turnovers as Milwaukee advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.