James Harden's ankle has his status in question

James Harden sprained an ankle in Saturday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks, and while it's nothing incredibly serious, it is causing him enough discomfort that his status for the next couple of days is in question.

First, he may miss today's practice, according to ESPN's Calvin Watkins. Harden was seen limping around the locker room after Saturday's game and claimed it did affect him down the fourth quarter stretch, which means the Rockets might not want to take a risk sending him out on the practice floor today. Harden told the AP:

"The explosiveness wasn't there. I felt I was a couple steps behind. It's frustrating, especially when you're starting to get into a groove."

If that wasn't bad enough, apparently, Harden's status for Tuesday's all-important game with the Oklahoma City Thunder is up in the air as well, according to the Houston Chronicle. Jonathan Feigen reports that a determination may not be made until the shoot around on Tuesday.

The good news is, Harden apparently looked better on Sunday, and with a few more days of treatment, should improve even more in advance of Tuesday's playoff-implications match up.

Harden's been an iron man since arriving in Houston, leading the league in minutes played both this season and last, while not missing a single game due to injury over the same time frame, according to Feigen.

I'd expect him to at least try to give it a go on Tuesday. The Rockets are going need Harden on the court if they have any hopes of competing with the 48-22 Thunder on their home floor.

Fingers crossed.