Are 76ers Concerned About James Harden’s Post-Injury Minutes?

After coming off a 14-game absence, James Harden has averaged 43 minutes in his first two games back.

As James Harden addressed reporters in front of his locker on Friday night following an overtime win against the Los Angeles Lakers, the star guard couldn’t help but chuckle when asked about how he feels from a physical standpoint after returning from his tendon strain injury that he suffered in November.

After missing 14-straight games and finally returning on Monday night to face his former team, the Houston Rockets, on the road, Harden anticipated having a minutes restriction in his first game back. Considering Harden averaged 37 minutes on the floor during his first nine games of the year prior to getting injured, anything in the ballpark of his average would seemingly be above the anticipated restriction.

As the Sixers engaged in a double-overtime battle with the Rockets on Monday, Harden exceeded his season average of minutes played by checking in for 38 minutes versus the Rockets.

“He looked fine, that’s why we left him in,” said Sixers coach Doc Rivers on Monday. “We kept checking. The game, surprisingly, was not played at a very high pace. We thought it’d be more of this, and it wasn’t, so we decided to keep him on the floor.”

Collecting an above-average shift of minutes on Monday following the 14-game absence, Harden didn’t exactly see his playing time get cut back the following game. As the Sixers hosted the Lakers for what became another overtime thriller, Harden checked in for 47 minutes in the 76ers victory.

“I was supposed to have a minute restriction last game and then tonight,” Harden said while laughing. “I guess I’m alright.”

Statistically, Harden struggled in Monday night’s game as he got back into the swing of things. The star guard drained just 21 percent of his shots. He wrapped up the loss with 21 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. On Friday night, Harden bounced back with 28 points, 12 assists, and four rebounds while knocking down 47 percent of his shots.

While the All-Star feels good physically and embraces the loads of playing time thrown at him despite coming off a long layover, Harden acknowledged his team has to find themselves in better positions moving forward.

“We gotta find a way to just be better throughout the course of the game, so I’m not having to play these loads of minutes,” Harden finished, “but I love the game of basketball. I like to hoop, so it is what it is.”

As for Rivers, he didn’t feel too concerned about Harden’s playing time once again.

“I was fine with their minutes,” said Rivers. “We just had three days off. Got a day off tomorrow. We knew going into the game that if it was going to be a high-minute game, we can have one of those games right now. Had it been one of those stretches where it was every other game that you go on, they wouldn’t have played minutes like that.”

Coming away with the victory and an injury-free Harden is a big win for the Sixers on Friday night. While they certainly don’t want to keep issuing the guard high minutes early on as the long season progresses, Harden is up for the task of staying on the court for as long as he needs to in order to help the Sixers garner a win.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.