NBA rumors: Some Warriors question extent of James Harden's eye injury

Programming note: Watch the pregame edition of Warriors Outsiders on Saturday afternoon at 4, streaming live on the MyTeams app.

James Harden was poked in the eye by Draymond Green midway through the first quarter of Game 2 in the Warriors-Rockets NBA playoff second-round series.

The Rockets star went to the locker room Tuesday night and checked back in with a little over seven minutes remaining in the second quarter. His eyes were extremely red, and he looked quite uncomfortable at times.

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Is the pain still present?

"It's still there. It's still tough, especially with the bright lights," Harden told reporters after practice Thursday. "But I can see out of it a little bit better, so that's all that matters."

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Is he good to go for Saturday's Game 3 in Houston?

"If I played barely seeing last game, what makes you think I'm gonna sit out?" the 2018 NBA MVP answered. "When you got blurry vision and you can't see, it's really difficult.

"But, there's still no excuses."

Hmmmmmm. No excuses, huh?

Before exiting the game, Harden didn't score and was 0-of-3 shooting from the field. After returning, he scored 29 points and shot 9 of 16 overall.

"There are a few players in the [Warriors] locker room that aren't buying the whole James Harden's eye being extremely hurt," Yahoo's Chris Haynes recently said. "They were talking about some of the shots he was shooting during the game and then he gets to the free throw line and is squinting like he can't see."

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As if this rivalry needed any more fuel. With the Rockets down 2-0 in the series, Houston needs a monster Game 3 from Harden. 

Saturday night should be a lot of fun!

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