Nets’ James Harden suffers setback in rehab from hamstring strain, now out indefinitely

NEW YORK — It’s no wonder the Nets have reportedly been looking to add a new point guard.

Nets star James Harden, who has been out with a hamstring strain, suffered a setback during an on-court rehab session on Monday. Harden, who was expected to return in the coming days, has now been listed as out indefinitely.

“James, he’ll be back when he’s back. That may not be until the playoffs. It may be sooner. I don’t know,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “We have no control over that other than working as hard as we can to support him and getting back to full health to play again. We’re prepared for whenever that may be.”

The injury aggravation comes just days after Nets general manager Sean Marks said Harden had been progressing well, had met his marks, and that the MVP candidate was set to advance to four-on-four and five-on-five in practice. Had things gone smoothly from then, Harden would have been set to rejoin the team in a game. Marks suggested Harden was only days away from a return.

For an injury bug-bitten Nets team, it’s back to square one. They only had nine healthy players available for Tuesday’s matchup against Zion Williamson’s Pelicans in New Orleans.

Nash said he was present at the workout when the setback occurred. Harden didn’t fall or stumble or do anything out of the ordinary.

“He just felt, you know, something maybe in the ballpark of a strain,” Nash said. “Then the scan revealed that he did suffer a setback. So not much more to it other than just disappointment and that we have to rebuild and get him going again.”

Harden initially strained his hamstring on March 31 when the Nets hosted his former Houston Rockets team in Brooklyn. He sat out two games then returned on April 5, where he played just 4:22 against the Knicks before aggravating the injury.

Tuesday’s matchup against the Pelicans marks the seventh consecutive game Harden has missed since re-injuring his hamstring. The Nets entered the game 4-6 when Harden does not play and are 28-11 when he’s on the floor. Harden is averaging 25 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds per game since landing in Brooklyn via trade this season.

“We’ll rehabilitate him and get him back whenever we can and who knows when that will be, and we’ll support James, and we’ll support our performance team in getting him back in his best condition as possible,” Nash continued. “And hopefully that comes sooner than later but there’s no guarantee. We just keep chipping away, we keep moving forward and we hope for a speedy recovery.”

In more promising news, the Nets are bullish on the idea of Kevin Durant returning from his thigh contusion sooner than later.

Durant bumped legs with Miami’s Trevor Ariza just four minutes into Brooklyn’s 109-107 loss to the Heat on Sunday. After scoring the Nets’ first eight points, Durant missed both free throws after the foul then left the game with a left thigh contusion.

Nash said Durant’s situation is more positive than Harden’s but did not have much of an update to provide.

“I think he’s had a scan and it’s more of a day-to-day thing,” he said. “We’ll see if it’s in the next few days or more, but that scan was not alarming or negative in that respect, so we’re hopeful he can be back soon.”

Budding Nets big men Nicolas Claxton and Reggie Perry are out due to the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocol. There isn’t much information available since this is a private health matter, but Durant missed two separate sets of three games for coming in close proximity with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19.

“Not sure how long that’s gonna last or what that entails, the testing, or to test out of that, or what it is right now,” Nash said. “I think it’s still pretty early to understand exactly what we’re dealing with but for tonight, they’re both in the protocol and unavailable.”

It’s crunch time in Brooklyn. There are only 14 more games on the schedule until the playoffs, but the Nets’ Big 3 has yet to play seven full games as a trio. They might not have that luxury given Harden’s injury status, but the Nets will have to limp across the finish line and bide time for their stars to get as healthy as possible between now and their first-round series.

“The No. 1 priority in some respects has to be survival. We have to not overburden the rest of the roster,” Nash said. “So we’ve got to be careful, but, at the same time, we don’t have a lot of options. And so how do we navigate that? I think it’s going to be very tricky.”