The Brooklyn Nets will be without James Harden once again in Game 3 against the Milwaukee Bucks due to a hamstring injury. Harden suffered the injury at the beginning of Game 1, which seemingly was going to level the playing field in this series, or perhaps even give the Bucks an edge in the second-round series.
Instead, the Nets have ransacked the Bucks twice without Harden, including a thorough 125-86 shellacking in Game 2 that left Milwaukee shell-shocked. Brooklyn is firing on all cylinders with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving leading the way, and there's no reason to bring back Harden until they absolutely have to do it.
The Nets have proven they can handle the Bucks without Harden. Having Durant and Kyrie increases the margin for error by a lot, but Brooklyn is also getting strong performances from the role guys. Blake Griffin is jumping out out of the gym again and looks like a completely different player compared to his gloomy days with the Detroit Pistons earlier this season. Joe Harris is raining 3-pointers and Bruce Brown is doing plenty of dirty work while also getting the job done in short-roll situations. Off the bench, Mike James, Landry Shamet and Nicolas Claxton are providing more than enough in support of the starters.
Nets head coach Steve Nash has done a wonderful job managing this team this season through all the injuries. It is easier when dealing with so much high-level talent, but Brooklyn is as dominant as possible given the lack of continuity on the roster.
The Bucks have had no answers for the Nets, and they might not for the rest of this series without Harden. It has been shocking to see how lost Milwaukee has been, which is partially a testament to just how loaded and well-coached Brooklyn is.
When it comes down to it, the Nets should be as cautious as possible with Harden. He might not even have to come back in this series. Assuming they get to the Eastern Conference Finals, he shouldn't play to start that series unless he's truly ready to go. Perhaps he's ready soon, but there's no reason to push things unless the Nets are desperate.
Even then, Brooklyn should be careful. Just look at what happened to KD with the Golden State Warriors. It's a cautionary tale and the Nets could honestly win it all without Harden anyway.
As of now, Nash says the hope is Harden is “back at some point,” whatever that means.
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