On January 11, Beijing time, the Nets officially announced that Harden would miss today's game against the Blazers due to excessive stretching of his left knee, and before that, the Nets had announced that Aldridge and Joe Harris would not play in this away game. This means that Durant and Irving will join forces to lead the team to win the victory.
In the last game, Harden and Durant both played 43 minutes, Durant 28 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, Harden 26 points, 7 rebounds and 12 assists, and finally they narrowly beat the Spurs through overtime, and rookie Thomas hit a throw. In this game, Harden will get a chance to rest. The Nets told reporters that Harden's knee problem does not need to be over-interpreted, because the Nets will encounter another back-to-back later this week, and the bearded man really needs to breathe.
So far this season, Harden has played 34 games, averaging 22.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 9.7 assists per game, shooting 41.7% from the field, 33.1% from three-point range, and averaging 36.9 minutes per game. This is harden's fifth game of the season, after he had previously missed four consecutive games for triggering the deal, and in those four games, the Nets were 3-1.
On the Blazers side, Lillard continues to be sidelined due to injury and will be evaluated by medical experts, and US media reports that Lillard may be reimbursed for the season.