The Brooklyn Nets will be without Kyrie Irving in Game 5 of their playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night, but it sounds like they have a good chance of getting James Harden back.
Harden is planning to play in Game 5 as long as he does not suffer a pregame setback with his hamstring injury, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. He has officially been upgraded from doubtful to questionable.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski adds that Harden got through a shootaround earlier on Tuesday without any issues. The former MVP is determined to play and appears on track to be cleared.
Harden left Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series with hamstring tightness. The injury is particularly concerning because it is the same hamstring that forced Harden to miss a month during the regular season. Brooklyn has been hopeful that he can return by the end of the series.
The Nets won the first two games of the series before losing both games in Milwaukee. That has created a sense of urgency, especially now that Irving could miss the remainder of the series. Irving suffered an ankle sprain in Game 4 on Sunday on a play that looked pretty bad.
