{"id":243915,"date":"2021-05-07T00:04:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T21:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/james-harden-very-confident-hell-return-to-nets-before-playoffs\/"},"modified":"2021-05-07T00:04:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T21:04:44","slug":"james-harden-very-confident-hell-return-to-nets-before-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/james-harden-very-confident-hell-return-to-nets-before-playoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"#James Harden ‘very confident’ he’ll return to Nets before playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#James Harden ‘very confident’ he’ll return to Nets before playoffs<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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In his first public comments since March, hamstrung Nets star James Harden said he\u2019s not only confident he\u2019ll be back by the start of the postseason, but that he plans to return before the end of the regular season.<\/p>\n

With the Nets taking a three-game<\/a> skid into Dallas Thursday, he can\u2019t come back soon enough.<\/p>\n

After a lengthy workout Thursday, Harden spoke to the media<\/a> and said he\u2019s clearing the final benchmarks needed to return from a right hamstring strain. And he left no doubt that he fully expects to be on the court for a May 22 playoff opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery, very confident,\u201d said Harden. \u201cI guess the mark I have to hit is the work that I did (Thursday), and I have a couple of those without any feeling. That\u2019s pretty much the mark. But I\u2019m very confident I\u2019ll be back before the postseason, yeah.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really good. Just trying to get my conditioning back. Just changing speeds, changing direction, making sure you know, the power and quickness is there to be able to move how I move. But so far, so good. (Thursday) was really good and we\u2019ve just got to keep building on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With five dates left on the regular-season slate after Thursday, Harden sounded bullish about playing a game or two by the May 16 finale vs. Cleveland \u2013 and his much-needed playmaking making a difference for the suddenly-struggling Nets.<\/p>\n

\"James
James Harden warms up for a game with the Nets.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re trying to get me on the first question. That\u2019s the plan,\u201d said Harden. \u201cThe plan is to hopefully get an opportunity to play a couple games before the postseason. We\u2019re just taking one day at a time, and I\u2019m going to leave it at that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for the next part, yeah of course my playmaking, scoring and IQ and all that good stuff (should help). But we\u2019ve had a number of opportunities to win games that we didn\u2019t win, and it\u2019s because of the little things we\u2019re not doing consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

The truth about Brooklyn and their Big Three is that with Harden, the Nets have been magnificent. Without him, they\u2019ve been mediocre. Or worse.<\/p>\n