Rockets All-Star James Harden suffered a leg injury Sunday evening in the fourth quarter of Houston’s overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets announced on Monday that doctors have diagnosed Harden with a grade two hamstring strain. The team says he will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
The Rockets announced today that guard James Harden suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain during last night’s game vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. Full story: https://t.co/zNJxR17DOG pic.twitter.com/p9h5ZedEM2
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) January 2, 2018
After the game, Harden seemed optimistic about the injury, according to Ohm Youngmisuk, noting that the Rockets didn’t have a game until Wednesday.
“Hopefully it is not that serious, just a pull on the hammy,” an optimistic Harden said afterward. “Just got some treatment right now and hopefully, day to day, it gets better.
“But I’ll be good,” Harden added. “[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. We’ll see. I think we don’t play again until [Wednesday against Orlando]. … So I got a couple of days.”
As it turns out, Harden’s injury is a bit worse than “hammy” pull. Chris Paul recently returned to the lineup after missing two games due to a left adductor strain.
The Rockets have lost five of their last six games, with a variety of injuries to boot. As the Rockets continue to get healthy, there shouldn’t be any reason for Harden to rush his recovery.
