The Brooklyn Nets are widely regarded as the front-runner in the Eastern Conference Finals…if they can stay healthy. That has been a struggle as of late as it’s been very rare that Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden have all been on the floor together.

Both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving currently are healthy and in the Nets’ lineup. It’s Harden who is currently sidelined but he plans to return to ‘play a couple games’ before the NBA playoffs begin.

“The plan is to hopefully get an opportunity to play a couple games before the postseason,” Harden said Thursday, via ESPN Staff Writer Malika Andrews. “We’re just taking one day at a time.”

The Nets certainly could use the impact that James Harden provides when considering they have now lost four consecutive games. Brooklyn has since gone from the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference standings to being surpassed by both the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks.

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Landing the top seed isn’t a pressing priority for a Nets team that has its eyes on an NBA championship. Harden made it clear the approach is to be patient and to get get healthy before the playoffs begin.

“We wanted to be patient,” Harden said. “As much as I love to hoop, I want to be out there, but you’ve got to be smart. And for me, it was just, ‘Let’s knock this thing out, let’s get this thing healthy so we can make a push.'”

Having time to get back into form and to build a rhythm with teammates would certainly help. Regardless, James Harden is quite confidence in this Nets team when considering the overwhelming amount of talent they have with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving alongside him.

“One of the things that a lot of teams don’t have is talent,” Harden said. “We don’t have to worry about that aspect. Skillwise, we’re elite.”

Next up for the Brooklyn Nets is a matchup with the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.