MILWAUKEE — The Cleveland Cavaliers announced that star guard James Harden suffered a fractured right thumb during their 109-94 win over the New York Knicks Tuesday night. Harden played 32 minutes and finished with 20 points, four assists and two rebounds, but a subsequent evaluation of his thumb confirmed the presence of a fracture.
Despite the diagnosis, surgery is not required and Harden is not expected to miss much time, per ESPN. The expectation is that Harden will wear a wrap or splint on his hand as he attempts to play through the injury. He was initially listed as questionable for Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks but was later ruled out.
“A postgame examination by the Cavaliers’ medical staff, followed by X-rays taken (Wednesday), confirmed a non-displaced fracture of the distal phalanx,” the team said in a press release. “Harden will undergo treatment and continued evaluation. An update on his status will be provided as appropriate.”
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said Wednesday that Harden was not complaining about his thumb during Tuesday’s game, and he was unsure when the injury occurred. He declined to go into specifics about a timeline or plan for Harden and said the team will have more information after he’s evaluated.
“I don’t have my lab coat on, I’m not gonna go there,” Atkinson said. “I do think it’s early. I think these things take time. Obviously, James is famous for his availability. There’s a lot that goes into this. For me to sit here and start making judgments — we’ll have more information once the medical staff looks at him a little more.”
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It appears Cleveland has avoided disaster with Harden not being immediately ruled out for a significant period of time. The Cavs have gone 6-1 since trading for Harden in early February. He has established immediate chemistry with Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt, giving Cleveland someone who can take offensive pressure off Mitchell in a way Darius Garland couldn’t.
Harden is averaging 18.9 points, eight rebounds and 4.6 assists as a member of the Cavs. Before the trade, he averaged 25.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 44 games for the Los Angeles Clippers this season.
Cleveland (37-22) is tied with the Knicks for third in the East. If Harden has to miss a few games or if his performance is impacted by the fractured thumb, they could slip in the standings as the Toronto Raptors (34-24) sit just 2.5 games behind them. How much the injury impacts Harden remains to be seen as the Cavaliers try to make a deep playoff run.
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