After several days of dilly-dallying due to his hamstring injury, James Harden finally decided to suit up for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Harden, however, was as rusty as an old nail, tallying only five points on a terrible 1-of-10 shooting from the field. He did have six rebounds and eight assists, but also committed four turnovers. A very encouraging sign though is that he was healthy enough to play close to 46 minutes.
After the game, Harden said he just felt good when he woke up, urging him to suit up and help out the Brooklyn Nets hack out the win against the Milwaukee Bucks (via ESPN).
“I woke up and was like, ‘You know what? Let’s go.' I tried to go out there and do the best I can. Hopefully, I gave my teammates some encouragement and some life.”
While it was obviously good for the Nets to have Harden back, especially with Kyrie Irving sidelined, coach Steve Nash admitted they're still walking on eggshells with The Beard's injury. Clearly, they're erring on the side of caution, since a player's health is always the top priority. Nash admitted though that Harden has the final say.
“So James is driving this. We have to try to support him the best way we can and be an aide for him to figure this out, but it’s a tricky situation but it’s one that we’re willing to go down with James.”
The Nets' Game 5 victory definitely eased the worries about James Harden's hamstring injury. He made the right decision to suit up and now, they're just a win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
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