Nets still title favorites even with James Harden injured

Trading for James Harden was icing on the cake for Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets and transformed title contenders into the favorites to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were at the heart of Brooklyn's original championship blueprint, so the duo will likely do everything in their power to keep the Nets a atop the playoff pecking order. Now that Harden reaggravated his right hamstring injury in the opening minute of Game 1 against the Bucks, Brooklyn may need to prepare to play without him in Game 2 and potentially the rest of the series.

RECAP 📝 The Nets take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semis in Brooklyn

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) June 6, 2021

The Nets bench responded in a big way, as Irving dumped in 25 and Durant 29, while Blake Griffin's double-double of 18 and 14 pushed the Nets to a 115-107 opening game victory. Game 2 is set for Monday and on short rest, it's extremely unlikely that Harden will be ready to play as he missed 30-plus games in the regular season after tweaking the same hamstring.