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DETROIT — The Cleveland Cavaliers will be shorthanded for Friday’s showdown against the Detroit Pistons. Their star-studed backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden will both be missing the game.
Harden broke his thumb in Tuesday’s win over the New York Knicks. Initial X-rays revealed a non-displaced fracture of the distal phalanx. He will not be undergoing surgery at this time and is expected to play through the injury.
However, that won’t be happening on Friday as he’s still struggling to dribble according to head coach Kenny Atkinson.
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“I know this morning he was struggling a little just dribbling,” Atkinson said when asked about Harden’s thumb injury before Friday’s game in Detroit. “If you have a hard time dribbling and catching [it’s tough to play]. Jarrett Allen went through it earlier in the season. We tried to bring him back. He wanted to rush, and then we had to go back and give him some time.
“I know James is different…we got to get the feedback from James. … Theres no tougher guy in the league. No one more available. No one wants to play more.”
The plan was to have Harden go through pregame warmups and see how it goes. However, he didn’t come out for pregame warmups like usual.
Even though he won’t be playing Friday, Atkinson says that he is making progress.
“It was improved from when he first did it,” Atkinson said. “It wasn’t like, man it feels the same. It’s better than it was two days ago, so that’s a positive.
Harden has played seven games with the Cavs this season and is averaging 18.9 points and 8 assists on .494/.488/.867 shooting splits. On the season, he’s averaged 24.5 points and 8.1 assists in 51 games.