Harden sits with hyperextended knee; likely back Wed.

PORTLAND, Ore. — James Harden missed Monday’s loss to the Trail Blazers with a knee injury. But the Nets don’t expect to be without him for long.

Coach Steve Nash said the All-Star point guard was sitting out of an abundance of caution, resting what the team labeled a left knee hyperextension. Harden — second in the league in assists — is expected to be back in the starting lineup for Wednesday night’s game at Eastern Conferenceleading Chicago.

“We’re being overly cautious,” Nash said. “Heavy stretch of games and expect him to play Wednesday.”

Monday against the Trail Blazers marked the second leg of a brutal stretch for the Nets, four games in five days. It also included a cross-country flight for the tail end of a back-toback, after Harden logged a marathon 43:57 in Sunday’s home win over San Antonio.

The Nets began a stretch of 13 of 18 games on the road, including three pairs of back-to-backs, starting with this one.

Harden — who had 26 points and 12 assists against the Spurs on Sunday — wasn’t initially listed on the injury report, but was a late scratch. It marked just the fifth game he had missed all season. But the former MVP isn’t believed to have gotten any imaging done on the knee.

“I don’t think so,” Nash said. “I don’t think it’s that necessary.”

➤ LaMarcus Aldridge also missed the game with right foot soreness.

It is the second straight game that the 36-year-old Aldridge has missed due to the problem, and third in his last five. He is also expected to miss Wednesday’s clash with the firstplace Bulls,.

“I don’t think he’s going to join us on this trip, no,” said Nash, who has recently referenced the center’s foot injury as irritation that requires rest but shouldn’t be a long-term worry for Brooklyn. ➤ In the wake of recent reports that Joe Harris could be returning to the court for practice within days, Nash said that hasn’t happened yet.

“I don’t think he’s on the court yet,” Nash said. “So I don’t know that. I didn’t read the report, so I don’t know what the context was but I don’t think so.”

Harris has been out since mid-November with an ankle injury that required surgery.