James Harden Will Miss At Least Two Weeks With A Hamstring Injury


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The Houston Rockets are well on their way to a tremendous season but, as of Monday, the team will face a significant test due to an injury to leading MVP candidate James Harden. The team announced that the dynamic offensive creator will miss at least two weeks with a hamstring strain.

Harden’s injury will be “re-evaluated” in two weeks according to the team, indicating that his return may not necessarily be as tidy as that may seem. With both Harden and Chris Paul available, the Rockets are a blazing 16-2 on the season but, with Paul missing some time, Houston was not quite as effective.

We’ll have to see what Houston looks like when that is flipped on its head and Harden, who is the team’s centerpiece, is the one on the sideline. In addition, the absence could be a factor in the MVP chase, with Harden currently averaging 32.3 points (on 45-39-87 shooting), 9.1 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Those per-game numbers will obviously exist when it returns but, in the same breath, part of Harden’s case against competitors like LeBron James would be pure volume and that case becomes at least slightly weakened without an immaculate injury record. Harden has been playing some incredible basketball this season, though, so it’s totally plausible that he stays atop the race despite his absence for that reason.

The Rockets should be just fine in the long term provided Harden is back in full after a reasonable period of time but the next few weeks should be intriguing on a number of levels.

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