Hamstring Injury Will Keep James Harden Out of Regular Season Finale

It’s not a must-win situation tonight, but the Brooklyn Nets control their own fate when it comes to holding onto the #2 seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The Nets will clinch second in the conference with a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

Based on the market at FanDuel Sportsbook, the probability of a Nets win is good, as they are currently listed as -1100 favorites, which carries an implied probability of 91.7%. But they will have to get past the Cavs without James Harden as he is being held out for injury management of his right hamstring injury.

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Harden recently returned from an 18-game absence, playing in the Nets last two games. It hasn’t been a smooth return to action for Harden as he’s put up a combined 23 points over the two games to go along with a cumulative 12 rebounds and 18 assists. Tonight is the second night of a back-to-back, which was likely a factor in deciding to rest Harden ahead of the playoffs.

Based on how the Nets handled their lineup during Harden’s 18-game absence, we should expect Kyrie Irving to move into the point guard role, with Bruce Brown taking over shooting guard duties. That frees up a spot at small forward that Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot can fill. Irving has a $9,700 salary on the main slate, Brown has a $5,200 salary, and Luwawu-Cabarrot’s is $3,800.