Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden did come with some baggage when he was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets back on Feb. 10. No, not meaning any of the off-court questions that have surrounded him, but he was dealing with a hamstring issue that hampered him from his time with the Nets.
Harden missed the first four games with the Sixers after the trade due to the hamstring issue and he made his debut with Philadelphia on Feb. 25 after the All-Star break. Since then, he hasn’t looked as explosive as he has in the past as he hasn’t had that signature Harden explosive scoring game just yet.
As Philadelphia gets set to take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday to continue their road trip, coach Doc Rivers gave an update on Harden’s injury via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“He’s still not there,” coach Doc Rivers said before Friday’s shootaround at UCLA. “But his miles per hour have increased. He’s … almost to the level of Houston as far as his miles per hour. He’s reached his top speed he hasn’t reached in two years.
“He’s still a work in progress. But [in] three weeks, we really feel at the time, he’ll be there at 100 percent.”
Harden is averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 assists, and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 42.5% from the floor and 33.3% from deep in 12 games for the Sixers. With 10 games left before the playoffs begin, the Sixers hope that they can get him healthy and everybody else on the same page in order to chase a championship.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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