Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden is making strides in his bid to return from a hamstring injury, coach Steve Nash said ahead of Game 4 in Milwaukee against the Bucks on Sunday.
Nash said that Harden is doing on-court work, shooting and rehabilitation. Nash said that Harden, who injured his hamstring in Game 1 on June 5, is "progressing in the right direction," although he didn't have all the details of the exact work Harden is able to perform.
"I asked him and he says he's feeling better, doing better," Nash said. "I asked the staff, they say, 'Yeah, it's getting better.' I think he's in that arena where he's got a little gap to make up. But he's getting closer, so it's been positive."
Harden missed 18 games in the regular season with a right hamstring strain. Before that, he missed two games with right hamstring tightness. That history is causing the Nets to exercise added caution in bringing Harden back. Nash said that he will need to complete several "high-intensity" workouts before he is cleared to play in a game.
"When he's able to get up to full speed and do it for two or three days without recurrence or setback," Nash said, "then I think that's kind of the marker."
Brooklyn big man Jeff Green, who had been sidelined since the Nets' first-round series against Boston with a strained left plantar fascia, made his return in Game 4. Green, who last played on May 25, had eight points and five rebounds in 27 minutes.
