James Harden was sidelined due to foot soreness in Philadelphia’s win last night and is yet to understand gravity of his injury

This Tuesday, Philly star James Harden appeared last minute in the squad’s injury report and missed the Sixers’ 117-94 road victory in Minnesota. The 10-time All-Star player is suffering from left foot soreness and it’s still unclear if he’ll be back for the next match.

As Harden was sidelined, his teammates Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey took it on themselves to lead the Pennsylvania side to a triumph. The French big man dropped 39 points, as the youngster added 27 to his name, finishing their five-match road trip with a 4-1 record.

Due to a foot injury, James Harden is out for tonight's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.#76ers #BrotherlyLove #NBA | @RotoGrindersNBA pic.twitter.com/WgLO5M5qUd

— TheColdWire.com (@thecoldwire) March 7, 2023

The veteran star will be reevaluated this Wednesday to have more clarity over how sore is his foot, and if he can return this Friday, March 10 against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Earlier this season, Harden missed 14 contests due to a tendon strain in his right foot, as he had already participated in 39 of the last 41 matches. The player has been rested precisely to prevent him for falling into a larger-scale injury.

As for Embiid, he’s positive over leading the squad and taking charge while his teammate is out. “I take pride every single time I step on the floor, no matter who’s guarding, I feel like I’m unguardable,” he said. “I want to show them that it’s not that easy to guard me.”

Ending their recent road trip with three consecutive victories, the 76ers accumulate 19 road wins this campaign with the 4th best record in the league which is 19-12 overall. After two next home games, they’ll continue with 7 of 8 left on the road.

“We’re road warriors,” Maxey said. “We always pack our attitude, pack our defense and pack our will on the road. It’s good for us. We know we can do it at home with Wells Fargo (Center) behind us and South Philly behind us, but you got to be able to win road games in the playoffs.”

The 33-year-old is averaging 21.9 points and a league-high 10.8 assists over 48 games for Philadelphia this tournament. The last time Harden played was this past weekend, as he appeared 32 minutes on court and scored 14 points and 20 assists in their victory against the Pacers.

Is there truly a chance for Harden returning to his beloved Rockets next season?

Speculation over Harden’s potential reunion with the Rockets in the near future is more alive than ever after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said the player had admitted to be “seriously considering” returning to his beloved team in Houston.

In January, specialist Stephen A. Smith had a lot to say about it:

This week, Bill Simmons builded more rumours around the possibility as he discussed it in the latest episode of his podcast, saying Harden is destined to return to the Texan franchise in free agency this summer.