James Harden Out For At Least A Month With Foot Injury

PublishedNovember 4, 2022 1:13 PM EDT|UpdatedNovember 4, 2022 1:13 PM EDT

Another season and another setback for the Philadelphia 76ers, as All-Star guard James Harden will miss multiple weeks due to a foot injury.

The team announcing on Thursday that Harden suffered a right food tendon strain and is expected to miss a month of action. Harden suffered the injury during Wednesday's 121-111 loss to the Washington Wizards.

James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers will miss at least a month with a foot injury. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

With Harden out as well as star center Joel Embiid missing the last three of four games due to a non-Covid illness, that means even more pressure will be on guard Tyrese Maxey, who has been absolutely dominant this year.

The third-year player is averaging a career-high 24.2 points per game including hitting 46.8% of 3-point attempts. But will he be able to handle the additional workload with Harden out?

SIXERS LOOK TO RETURN TO THE PLAYOFFS

Harden's absence also coming ahead of a difficult stretch of games for Philly, who are 4-5 so far this season. The team will host the New York Knicks tonight before a run of games that includes the Suns, the Hawks twice, Jazz, Bucks and Timberwolves before the Brooklyn Nets come to town on November 22nd. That game is sure to be crazy as Ben Simmons would return to Philly for the first time since an ugly falling out with the organization.

Last year the Sixers acquired James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets. However the 33-year-old has now had leg injuries in two straight years. This year he has averaged 22 points per game, but he is also playing a ton of minutes, averaging nearly 37 per game. If leg and feet injuries continue, the Sixers will have to scale him back so they have him later in the season.

The Sixers made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs last year before losing to the Miami Heat in 6 games.