James Harden Injury: Thunder's Title Hopes Concussed by World Peace's Elbow

James Harden's head might not be the only thing to have been dented by Metta World Peace's flagrant elbow during the Oklahoma City Thunder's 114-106 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

According to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman, Harden suffered a concussion from the aforementioned hit to his noggin and could miss the last two games of the regular season:

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James Harden does have a concussion. He will travel back to to OKC with the team, but his status for the final two games is uncertain.

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) April 22, 2012"

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Could be a few days b4 Harden is cleared to play. The NBA instituted a concussion policy at the start of this year that has strict protocol.

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) April 23, 2012"

Harden's absence could affect the Thunder's ability to challenge for the top spot in the Western Conference, though the San Antonio Spurs have practically wrapped that up with three games to play.

Of greater concern to OKC is Harden's health heading into the postseason.

Simply put, if Harden has to miss significant time to recover from his concussion, then the Thunder might as well rescind their claim to the title of "Best in the West." Harden is, among other things, OKC's third-best player, one of the five best shooting guards in the NBA and the runaway favorite to be named the league's Sixth Man of the Year.

He might even be the Thunder's most dynamic playmaker. At the very least, he's the anchor of Scott Brooks' second unit.

At most, he's the Thunder's most important player, with a team-best plus-minus rating that checks in at just under six points per game on the positive end of the spectrum.

In other words, Harden is a tremendous talent whose value to OKC's game-winning machinery cannot be overstated.

The Thunder are 2-0 this season when Harden hasn't played, though those two wins came against the New Orleans Hornets and the Sacramento Kings, both of which rank among the worst teams in the league.

The end of Sunday's loss serves as a more troubling indicator of what may come if Harden has to miss games during the playoffs. Without him, the Thunder relinquished an 18-point fourth-quarter lead to the Lakers as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook jacked up shot after shot without running much in the way of a coherent offense. 

OKC's dynamic duo combined to hit just 14 of their 56 shots. Harden, on the other hand, chipped in 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, along with three assists, in 13 minutes before the cheap shot from World Peace.

Had Harden remained in the game, he may well have carried the Thunder to victory, or at least provided enough of a scoring threat—outside of Durant and Westbrook—to create space to operate against LA's defense.

Luckily for the Thunder, they probably won't see the Lakers again until the Conference Semifinals, at the earliest.

Then again, an opening-round series against the defending champion Dallas Mavericks won't exactly be a walk in the park, either. OKC went 3-1 against the Mavs this season but is well aware of what a veteran core—Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Shawn Marion—can accomplish in the playoffs.

Or they should be aware of it, anyway, after losing to Dallas in five games during last year's Western Conference Finals.

This current Mavs squad is a far cry from the one that won the title in 2011, with the likes of Tyson Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson having since departed for the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets, respectively.

An OKC team without James Harden would be just as susceptible to an early shortfall, if not more so.

As such, the Thunder had better keep their collective fingers crossed that their bearded brother will be ready to go when the curtain opens on the postseason.

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