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Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash allayed fears of a serious knee injury for 2018 MVP James Harden who was left out of the side to play the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
Harden, who is averaging 22.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 9.7 assists this season, missed the game due to a left knee hyperextension.
Nash revealed Harden did not require an MRI on the knee and that the Nets were taking precaution.
“I think we’re being overly cautious,” Nash told reporters prior to Monday’s game.
“A heavy stretch of games. Expect him to play Wednesday [against the Chicago Bulls].”
Kyrie Irving, who is only eligible for road games due to his vaccination status, will play in the game away to the Trail Blazers.
“It would be great if we didn’t have to get him up to 40 [minutes] tonight,” Nash said. “But at the same time, I think he’s got the bulk of his preparation and his legs and is ready to play as much as needed … you don’t want to play him 44 minutes tonight, then he’s got to turn around and play a big game on Wednesday.
“So we’ll play him more minutes, but we would love for it to be gradual and a strategic allocation of minutes, not just like, ‘All right great, we got a new Ferrari and we’re going to rack up the miles.'”
