Hand Injury Will Keep James Harden Out vs. Warriors

James Harden has reportedly been dealing with hand soreness for a while, but it didn’t impact his playing status — until tonight. Harden will miss the Brooklyn Nets’ marquee matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night with a newly diagnosed right hand strain.

James Harden (right hand strain) is out for tonight's game vs. the Warriors pic.twitter.com/iFrXadtC6q

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 30, 2022

Harden sits third on the Nets in scoring, averaging 23.0 points per game, leading the team in rebounding and assists with 8.1 and 10.1, respectively. You wouldn’t know that Harden was playing through a hand injury by looking at his recent game scores. The former MVP has triple-doubles in two of his past three outings, scoring 33 or more points in both games.

Kyrie Irving should move down to the one-spot with Harden unavailable, leaving Deandre’ Bembry to move into the starting shooting guard position.

The cards are stacked against the Nets on Saturday night. Harden’s absence makes it harder to snap out of their three-game losing streak, particularly against one of the best teams in the league.

FanDuel Sportsbook has the Nets priced as +10.5 road underdogs with the total set at 226.5.