James Harden has taken some positive steps in his injury recovery, but the Nets superstar still hasn’t done any high-intensity work and he doesn’t appear close to a return to the team’s lineup.
Tuesday’s game against the Raptors in Tampa, Fla., marked a career-high 11th straight game that Harden had missed. He suffered a right hamstring strain during the Nets’ win April 5 over the Knicks, and hasn’t played since.
Coach Steve Nash has even admitted there is a possibility Harden won’t play the rest of the regular season. The Nets have 10 games remaining after Tuesday.
“He’s here with us traveling. He was shooting [Tuesday] morning and just starting to build up what his capacity is,” Nash said. “He’s not doing any high-intensity stuff, but he’s shooting and doing all his strength and rehabilitation work.
“So positive signs there, but still, I think, a ways to go.”
Bruce Brown (right knee soreness) was out Tuesday after logging 10:07 in a come-from-behind win over the Suns on Sunday at Barclays Center. After the high-energy guard had his knee drained, the Nets left him home in Brooklyn with an eye toward him playing Friday against the Trail Blazers at Barclays Center, in the tail end of a back-to-back following Thursday’s game at Indiana.
“Yeah, just some soreness, swelling in his knee so he is not on this trip,” Nash said. “I think Bruce, the word he gave me was that it wasn’t limiting him so much, but I think when you have that much fluid in it, it’s beneficial to take it out; and when you take it out, you do need a few days. So, he’s positive, optimistic as we are that he’ll be back Friday.”
Nic Claxton (health and safety protocols), Alize Johnson (health and safety protocols), Chris Chiozza (right hand) and Spencer Dinwiddie (right knee) remained out.
Claxton hasn’t played since April 18 at Miami. He has been in health and safety protocol (the NBA’s catch-all phrase for anything COVID-related), but Nash wouldn’t answer when asked if it were just contact tracing quarantine or something else.
Meanwhile, Dinwiddie’s rehab from a partially torn ACL, which he suffered Dec. 27 in a game at Charlotte, has been building steam. The Nets are noncommittal on whether Dinwiddie will play this season, but reiterated that he will fly back from Los Angeles and rejoin the team at some point.
“Yeah, I can only give you a high-level [view]. I haven’t spoken to Spencer day-to-day. I’m not sure on that. But he’s definitely doing very well, progressing in his injury reports,” Nash said. “His rehab’s going well, he’s ahead of schedule, and it’s feeling really good for this stage of the recovery.
“I’m not sure exactly when he’s coming back, but the word is that he’s gonna be back with the team at some point, so, I don’t have a date, but I believe that he will join us at some point.”
