SALT LAKE CITY -- Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden will not play in Friday night's game against the Utah Jazz because of left hamstring tightness, the team announced. Harden missed a Jan. 26 loss to the Denver Nuggets because of the same injury.

Nets coach Steve Nash said after Wednesday's loss to the Sacramento Kings that he felt Harden, who also missed last Saturday's loss to the Golden State Warriors because of a right hand strain, "looked like he didn't have his legs" against the Kings. Harden scored just four points in that game and went 2-for-11 from the field in 37 minutes.

Prior to the news of Harden's injury, Nash tried to pump the positivity for his struggling team. The Nets come into Friday's game having lost six straight.

"I think we're constantly trying to push these guys in a direction, keep their spirits high," Nash said after Friday's shootaround. "These opportunities can be great for us, really face adversity, find solutions, dig out of a hole. I love this s---. That's what I had to do many, many times to have a career, let alone to make it.

"So I think for our group this is an opportunity to grow our resolve, to really double down on what we're trying to accomplish. We can't make excuses with all the variables: injuries, interruptions, illnesses, whatever it is. The shifting landscape of availability, we can't control that. If history tells us, that's kind of a constant. So if we're lucky enough to have a great run of health, that's what we all want, but we can't wait for that. We got to get better."