Harden gearing up for return to Nets

Brooklyn's third superstar should be ready for playoffs

May 11, 2021 John Torenli, Sports Editor

James Harden hopes to be back in Brooklyn and in uniform this week when the Nets host San Antonio and Chicago at Barclays Center this week. AP Photo by Mary Altaffer

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The Brooklyn Nets have already let it be known that their final four regular-season games won’t be about chasing the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference or holding on to the No. 2 spot.

Instead, it will be a four-game ramp-up to a postseason Brooklynites have been waiting all year for.

If, of course, James Harden is ready to participate.

“The plan is to hopefully get an opportunity to play a couple games before the postseason,” said Harden last week before the Nets improved to 1-3 on their ongoing road trip with Saturday’s 125-119 victory in Denver.

“We’re just taking one day at a time. And I’m gonna leave it at that,” Harden added.

Brooklyn (44-24), which stood three games behind conference-leading Philadelphia (47-21) and one in front of third-place Milwaukee (43-25) entering Tuesday night’s game in Chicago, has its twin-superstar tandem of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in place for the postseason.

But Harden, who has been sidelined since March 31 with a hamstring strain, may be the key to the Nets finally grabbing their first NBA title, or at least their first trip back to the Finals since 2003.

Since arriving in Downtown Brooklyn back in January, the former league MVP has posted a team record-tying 12 triple-doubles and won a pair of Eastern Conference Player of the Month awards.

He’s also become the lead facilitator on a team that at full health will feature three of the top-10 players in the league during this month’s playoffs.

Harden, who averaged 25.4 points, a league-best 11.0 assists and 8.7 rebounds per game when he went down with the injury, has also been traveling with the team as his basketball activities get accelerated ahead of what the Nets hope will be his imminent return.

“I feel like my voice is very, very important to the team,” said Harden. “Obviously on the court, it’s a lot better. But while I’m not active and able to play, I think my voice can be very, very impactful. It’s trying to help guys — give guys nuggets here and there on what I see.”

What he’s seen, be it from the bench or at home watching on television, is a Brooklyn team that had lost a season-high four in a row before rallying to beat the Nuggets last weekend.

While he’s still giving advice from the bench, James Harden would like to be back on the hardwood with teammate Joe Harris before the Nets begin their playoff run later this month. AP Photo by David Zalubowski

The Nets have gone 8-8 in their last 16 games, all but one of which saw Harden play for a few minutes on April 5, dropping them out of serious contention for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs barring an epic late-season collapse by the 76ers.

“We’ve had a number of opportunities to win games that we didn’t win,” Harden lamented.

“And it’s because of the little things that we’re not doing consistently. Which maybe it’s because of practice time, maybe it’s because of schedules and we’re playing games every other day.”

Or maybe it’s just because their best everyday player has been missing in action for a month and a half.

“I’m just patiently waiting to get back on the court and help the guys and ultimately reach what we’re trying to accomplish,” noted Harden.

Following their road-trip finale in Chicago on Tuesday, the Nets will return to Barclays Center to host San Antonio on Wednesday night.

If “The Beard” has his way, he’ll be back in Brooklyn getting his game honed for a serious run at our borough’s first major pro sports championship since 1955.

“If we can come into this postseason healthy, we are right there and we’ve got a chance, and that’s it right there within itself,” he insisted.

“So finish these last (four) games out strong, focus on the things we need to focus on, things we can control, and go out there and have fun, and we’ll live with the results.”

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Jocelyn Willoughby will have to wait until 2022 to follow up her rookie season with the New York Liberty after having successful surgery to repair a torn tendon in her left Achilles last week. AP Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack

In other local pro basketball news, the New York Liberty revealed last week that guard-forward Jocelyn Willoughby suffered a tear of her left Achilles’ tendon on May 3 during a team scrimmage against Connecticut.

Willoughby, who averaged 5.8 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting a team-high 40 percent from 3-point range as a rookie last season at the WNBA’s bubble site in Bradenton, Florida, underwent successful surgery on the tendon last week at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley and Dr. Anne Holly Johnson, the Liberty’s foot and ankle specialists. While Willoughby is expected to make a full recovery, she will not play during the 2021 season, the team announced.

The Liberty will open their first full season at Barclays Center on May 14 vs. the Indiana Fever.