James Harden Injury Update: Houston Rockets Player Hurts Hamstring, To Miss At Least Two Weeks
Houston Rockets key player James Harden will be sidelined for at least two weeks after hurting his hamstring in a previous game.
Harden missed the latter part of his team's previous game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets won the double overtime game, 148-142.
On Monday, the Houston Rockets issued a statement confirming that James had suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain injury and would have to sit out games for the next two weeks. After that, the player will have to be medically re-evaluated before getting the clearance to play again.
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With only 44 seconds left in the regular time of their Sunday night game against the Lakers, James left the court limping and headed to the locker. Later, it was confirmed that he could not join the team for that game which went into two OTs.
Before leaving the game, James played for 41 minutes and contributed 40 points, 11 assists and a couple of blocks and steals.
James's absence in the next few games will definitely be felt by the rest of the team as fellow Rocket player Trevor Ariza said (via ESPN): "If James misses time, it is going to be tough. Since I have been here, he's been here, he has been on the court, he has been available. So for him to have to miss time, it would definitely be tough, definitely be an adjustment."
Another Rockets star player, Chris Paul, also commented that they "lost [their] horse" following James's injury.
In an earlier interview, James told the press that he felt something was wrong in his hurt hamstring when shooting a layup.
"But I'll be good," Harden said. "[It was concerning] especially [when] you don't know what it is or you have never experienced it before. Like I really can't run. If I am going to play. But I really couldn't run so let me go back here and see what is going on."
For the 2017-18 NBA season, James is currently averaging 32.3 points, 9.1 assists and five rebounds per game.
