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Brooklyn Nets shooting guard James Harden missed his seventh game of the season on January 29 against the Golden State Warriors due to a strained right hand. The one-time MVP underwent an MRI in San Francisco and the results showed irritation.
The Nets lost to the Warriors sans Harden, dropping their fourth game in a row. They are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings after being in first place a few weeks ago. The loss of Kevin Durant has played a major role in the Nets’ struggles. The two-time Finals MVP has been out since January 17 after suffering a sprained MCL in his left knee against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Brooklyn faces the best team in the NBA, the Phoenix Suns, in its next game. The Nets are underdogs against Devin Booker and Co., but those odds could change after what Nets youngsters Nicolas Claxton and Kessler Edwards revealed to reporters.
Harden Could Play Against Suns
Harden went through practice on January 31 and is questionable for the Suns game. Edwards told reporters that the Beard looked like his usual self in practice and Claxton thinks the future Hall of Famer will play against Phoenix, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
Even though Kyrie Irving will play versus the Suns since the game isn’t in New York City, the Nets likely can’t win unless Harden plays. You need two dynamic scorers and playmakers to defeat the Suns, who have the second-best net rating in the NBA and are an incredible 40-9 on the season.
Harden is averaging 23.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 10.1 assists on the season while shooting 42.0% from the field, 33.7% from beyond the arc and 87.1% from the free-throw line. The Nets are 26-16 when the nine-time All-Star plays and will need him to have a vintage performance against the Suns (if he plays) to snap their four-game losing streak.
Harden Has to Turn Back Clock for Nets to Beat Suns, Win Title
Harden is averaging his lowest point total since his third year in the league when he put up 16.8 points per game for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The three-time scoring champion must turn back the clock soon for the Nets to not only beat the Suns but also win the championship.
Harden is shooting a career-low 33.7% from beyond the arc. He must get back to becoming a reliable 3-point shooter for the Nets to snap out of their recent funk and rise in the Eastern Conference standings. Irving can only play in road games in the 2022 playoffs, so Harden has to be the superstar No. 2 option he’s more than capable of being next to Durant for the Nets to make a serious run at the title.
Booker and Chris Paul will be patiently waiting to see if Harden suits up against them at the Footprint Center. NBA fans are certainly hopeful Harden plays since watching the Arizona State product go head-to-head against Booker is always entertaining. Harden is 12-3 versus Booker in his career and is averaging 33.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 8.5 assists. The Nets need that type of stat line from the lefty to win against the Suns and establish themselves as a title contender.
However, we first have to see if Claxton’s Harden prediction comes to fruition versus the Suns.