Rockets guard James Harden is likely to play tonight despite being listed as questionable with a cervical strain, per head coach Mike D’Antoni.
“We think he is, so we’ll see,” said Mike D’Antoni pregame. “He just got hit last game on the drive and re-aggravated (the cervical strain).”
Harden had missed a game against the Golden State Warriors in late February due to the cervical strain that had been noticeably impacting his shooting. D’Antoni noted that the shoulder seemed to be bothering him in mid-February. “He was amazing, but I think the shoulder is bothering him,” D’Antoni said at the time.
The injury occured on February 9th against the Oklahoma City Thunder when he got tangled up with center Steven Adams. “I just got caught up with (Steven) Adams,” Harden said at the time. “He’s a pretty strong guy.”
It looks like Harden will play despite the strain, but it’s notable that he was listed on the injury report to begin with. The Rockets will likely take a lot of precautions down the stretch of the season to insure they go into the playoffs at full-health.
