Brooklyn Nets star James Harden will be out indefinitely after a setback on Monday during his recovery from a hamstring injury, the team said Tuesday.
Harden – who, until recently, rarely missed time due to injury – has missed the last six games with tightness in the muscle in his right leg, due to an injury sustained during the Nets’ victory over his former Houston team on March 31.
Harden returned to court on April 5, but lasted only four minutes in the Nets’ victory over the Knicks, and has since been eliminated.
MRI scans showed a grade 1 hamstring injury, and Harden was nearing a return before Tuesday’s update.
He just felt it. He didn’t, he didn’t fall or stumble or anything special. He just felt something maybe on the fringes of some sort, ”said Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash. “So just a setback and then the scan showed that he had indeed suffered a setback. So there isn’t much more to it than just disappointment and rebuilding to get it going again. “
The Nets couldn’t guarantee that Harden would be back before the start of the playoffs, which begin midway through next month. He has averaged 25.4 points, 11 assists and 8.7 rebounds since the trade.