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Harden will play on Christmas Day according to Nash.
Steve Nash gives player news and says the Nets are trying to do the best they can. (0:56)
The Brooklyn Nets will have James Harden on Christmas, but they won't be able to have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Harden will play for the Nets against the Lakers on Christmas night after clearing health and safety protocols, according to Steve Nash. The Nets will have forward DeAndre' Bembry, who was cleared from health and safety protocols.
The Nets had nine players in health and safety protocols, including Durant, Irving and LaMarcus Aldridge. Bruce Brown, James Johnson, Cam Thomas, David Duke Jr., Kessler Edwards, and Day'Ron Sharpe are still in health and safety protocols.
The Nets play the Clippers in Los Angeles on December 27 and Nash said that anyone cleared from protocols could rejoin the team. The Nets had their last three games postponed.
We do the best we can. Nash said before the team flew to Los Angeles that they had a lot of guys coming off an extended break. We have to manage the group, try to be as competitive as possible, and be careful because nobody is in great condition. It's difficult for guys to come out and play after an absence.
We will do what we can. A lot of decisions are still to be made as the game goes on. We just have to be flexible and take it as an opportunity.
Nash said that Irving won't join the team on the road trip. Once he is cleared from protocol, the point guard has to ramp up his training. The Nets haven't seen Irving on the court since he returned to the team as a part-time player last week. Irving and Durant went into health and safety protocols.
When asked if he had seen Irving on the court, Nash said no. He's in protocols. We won't see him on this trip because he needs to ramp up.
Since the first week of training camp at the start of October, Irving has not been with the team on a regular basis. The team decided during the preseason to not have their point guard be a part-time player since Irving cannot play in games in New York because of the vaccine mandate.
The Nets will have to wait until another road trip for their point guard to possibly return since Irving cannot play home games. The Nets will not be on the road again until January 5 when they play at Indiana. They don't play another road game until January.
A road game at Cleveland on January 17 is a possibility if Irving isn't back by then. The Nets are getting bodies back. Harden will play for the first time since the Atlanta game. Nash said that Nic will be able to play on Saturday.
The Nets were able to get together for a light practice on Friday morning after shutting down earlier this week with as many as 10 players on health and safety protocols. The Nets' pause has felt like a mini offseason according to point guard Patty Mills.
Mills said that they have been dealing with different parts of adversity throughout the season. "On-court, off-court, COVID protocols, injuries, whatever it may be." I think this is another obstacle in the road.
It felt like a mini vacation to see everyone again after a week like this. There's still a lot of work to be done for us to know who is out and who is coming back.
