Houston Rockets Rumors: James Harden Bruises Knee, Severity of Injury Unknown

The Houston Rockets might start the season with one man down.

Rockets star James Harden bruised his right knee during Sunday's preseason exhibition game against the Orlando Magic. The extent of his injury is unknown.

Harden sustained the injury when he banged into Evan Fournier to defend a break during the second quarter. Both players went down in the collision. Harden was able to walk off the court on his own but did not return to the game. He finished the night with 12 points and four assists. The Rockets, who did not have Dwight Howard, ended up losing 123-119. Corey Brewer led the team with 20 points.

After the game, coach Kevin McHale stated that he had no information on the status of Harden's injury. If Harden's injury is more severe than it looks, it could mean bad news for the team, who runs its offense around him. Harden was the 2014-15 NBA MVP runner-up. He averaged 27.4 points and seven assists per game last year.

Even if the injury is not too serious, Harden will most likely be rested during these upcoming preseason games. The Magic game was Harden's third preseason game so far. He was supposed to sit out the second game against the Dallas Mavericks last week but had asked to play.

Harden, who believes that he should have won the MVP award, stated that he is focused on getting better this season especially after he gave up 12 turnovers in Game 5 of the Rockets - Golden State Warriors series.

"I pride myself on creating opportunities to score for my team. So those 12 possessions, instead of getting a shot for myself or one of my teammates, I'm giving an extremely talented Golden State offensive team extra possessions. And you just can't do that in the playoffs," Harden said to Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. "So that's what my offseason has been all about -- better conditioning and better preparation for this time."

The Rockets will be playing the Phoenix Suns next on Tuesday night.