The Philadelphia 76ers were dealt a heavy blow on Thursday when they found out that James Harden will miss a month due to a right foot tendon strain. The Sixers are off to a tough 4-5 start so losing their star point guard is not exactly the best news at the moment.
The Sixers have a tough schedule coming up over the next month including three contests with the Atlanta Hawks, a matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, and they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers to end November and they open December with a road matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies. Now is the worst time to lose Harden.
On top of the foot injury, Harden is still working his way back from a hamstring injury that has been bothering him in the past. This will be yet another obstacle for him to overcome at this stage of his career.
NBA Twitter gave their reactions to the tough news for The Beard.
Sixers knew Harden was coming back from a 2 season soft tissue issue, knew Embiid was in and out of the lineup. And still dialed up James Harden’s minutes full throttle like he was 25. It’s not hindsight or results bias. It’s basic load management they need. https://t.co/79dwX8JObS
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) November 3, 2022
If there is one positive to the James Harden injury, I think we might really get a Tyrese Maxey All-Star season
— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) November 3, 2022
James Harden was 10th in minutes played for this season, at 36.8 MPG.
Players above him, in order:
Donovan Mitchell (39.7)
Kyrie Irving (38.6)
Fred VanVleet (38)
Tyrese Maxey (37.8)
Kevin Durant (37.8)
Jaylen Brown (37.6)
Jayson Tatum (37.3)Continued below…
— Harrison Grimm (@Harrison_Grimm) November 3, 2022
From November 4 to December 2, the Sixers’ opponents include:
– Phoenix
– Atlanta x3
– Milwaukee
– Minnesota
– Brooklyn
– Cleveland
– Memphis— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) November 3, 2022
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