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OAKLAND, Calif. – Houston Rockets star James Harden said he "can barely see" after the first quarter of a 115-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinals series.
Harden, who was bleeding in both eyes and suffered a laceration on his left eyelid, returned in the second quarter and finished with 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting as the Warriors took a 2-0 series lead.
Harden's eyes were especially sensitive to light. He is constantly being watched and shielded during the game and his postgame news conference. He said that he was going to get a shot from Golden State Draymond Green and did not know if it would be an issue when the series resumes Saturday in Houston.
"It's pretty right now," said Harden. "Hopefully it gets better day by day."
Star Guard Warriors Stephen Curry also briefly left the game because of a mishap in the first quarter, when he broke the ball down from Rockets center Clint Capela. Curry missed a few minutes while getting an X-ray, which was negative, and a tape job on the finger.
Curry scored 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting (3-of-13 from 3-point range) in the win.
"It looked bad when he came off the floor," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I looked at the finger and I was just hoping it was a dislocation and not a break." And fortunately, that's what it turned out to be. great things for us and fueled us, but played a great game for us. "
Said Curry: "It hurts, but it's all right." Fortunate, and some higher power is looking forward to me on that one. . "
Curry did not sound concerned the injury would limit him moving forward, especially since the Warriors will get a full day off Wednesday. Curry even joked that his block on Capela in the second half, was worth a little extra bread.
"I'm not sure it's a minute, so I'll take it for sure," he said.
Harden was hurt when Green's left hand in the game. The contact, which did not result in a call to action, while still struggling to get off the ground, with Green also pursuing the loose ball.
Harden remained in the lane for the entire ensuing possession for the Warriors, who took advantage of the 5-on-4 situation by getting Kevin Durant a good look at a 3-pointer, which he swished. The Rockets called timeout with 6 minutes, 27 seconds.
As Harden walked to the Rockets' locker room with members of Houston's athletic training staff, Green approached him to apologize.
"I made a mistake and hit him in his eye," Green said. "Just [wanted] to check on him. It's not about hurting anybody out here. So many times, people forget that when a guy [has] an injury, you live with that every day, every second of every day. It's not just about this game. "
Harden remained in the locker room until returning to the Rockets' bench with 9:38 left in the second quarter. He checked the 7:09 mark of the quarter. Harden missed.
"He got raked pretty good in the eyes, but that's him," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I mean, I did not think it was something catastrophic." I'm sure he would have loved to play better.
Harden's issues with his vision were not obvious in his performance. He actually had his highest field goal percentage of this postseason (9-of-19, 47.4 percent).
All of Harden's Assists occurred after the injury.
"I can barely see," said Harden, who took some eye drops to the bread. "I can not help my teammates."
ESPN's Nick Friedell contributed to this report.
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