Will James Harden Return to 76ers’ Lineup Soon?

Monday night’s game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Denver Nuggets went from a highly-anticipated matchup with a ton of star power to one healthy team facing a shorthanded one.

The Sixers entered the matchup with several names on the injury report. Among the starting group listed were the center Joel Embiid and the ten-time All-Star guard James Harden.

Embiid was questionable on the injury report as he continued to deal with calf tightness, which started last week. As for Harden, he was in a similar position as he started dealing with Achilles soreness during last Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls.

The Sixers downgraded Embiid to "out" on Monday morning. As the team participated in a morning shootaround, Embiid was a partial participant. Shortly after the session, he was ruled out for the night.

As for Harden, it was reported that he was on track to make his return to the court after missing the team’s last three games. Not only was Harden a full participant at shootaround, but he stayed on the court after to get some extra work in.

The Sixers left the door open for Harden to return if he felt up for it after the team’s pregame shootaround. Unfortunately, Harden was downgraded to “out” before the matchup.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Harden is “targeting a return at home later in the week.”

ESPN Sources: Sixers G James Harden (Achilles) has been downgraded to out vs. the Nuggets tonight. He’s targeting a return at home later in the week. Philadelphia is now without both Harden and Joel Embiid vs. Denver.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 28, 2023

After the Monday night matchup in Denver, the Sixers return home for two games at the Wells Fargo Center. The first matchup will happen on Wednesday when the Sixers host the Dallas Mavericks.

The second matchup at home will come on Friday against the Toronto Raptors. It’s currently unclear which matchup Harden is targeting, but based on the idea that Harden was on pace to play on Monday in Denver, it seems there is a good chance Harden could return as early as Wednesday against the Mavericks.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.