Lakers Injury Report: Will Clippers Star James Harden Play Wednesday In Battle Of LA?
Will newly-minted Los Angeles Clippers star guard James Harden be "ramped up" enough to play for his latest dream team Wednesday, when your Los Angeles Lakers "host" the Clippers on the two teams' mutual home court?
Perhaps we should explain.
Following an extended holdout with his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, the 10-time All-Star rejoined the club a few days ago. The official narrative out of Philly was that Harden was "ramping up," following his prolonged absence (he participated in just a single five-on-five scrimmage in training camp, but had sat out all regular season and preseason contests with the club), in an effort to eventually play with the Sixers again.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Harden is looking to fly into town ASAP, to the point where he may even be in town tonight for a Clippers home bout with the Orlando Magic, fresh off a heartbreakingly close 106-103 loss to your Los Angeles Lakers last night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Clippers will have a four-day break ahead of a three-game mini-road trip, which will kick off in New York against the Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, before moving to the Lone Star State for a date with Harden's ex-Nets teammate Kyrie Irving, and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks.
It seems more likely that Harden will be fully integrated into LA head coach (and ex-Lakers champ) Tyronn Lue's Clippers rotation in time for the New York tilt, but perhaps the Beard surprises us and will be ready to go tomorrow.
His longtime teammate P.J. Tucker, also included in the deal, is another sneaky-important veteran asset (probably off the bench) for this revamped Clippers club.
Should Harden and Tucker sit, the Clippers could be severely shorthanded against a relatively healthy Lakers team tomorrow. LA had to surrender four forwards (Kenyon Martin Jr., Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, and Robert Covington), plus a boatload of future draft equity, to acquire Harden in the deal.
Harden and Tucker don't exactly improve the Clippers' age problems. Harden is 34, while Tucker is an ancient 38. They'll be joining an LA core that also includes 35-year-old Russell Westbrook, 33-year-old Paul George, and 32-year-old Kawhi Leonard, all of whom at this point of their careers have suffered major injuries, though Westbrook remains surprisingly durable even now.
UPDATE:
James Harden has been ruled out for Wednesday's game and could make his Clippers debut on Monday against the New York Knicks.
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