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James Harden has been cleared to return for Thursday night's matchup between the Rockets and Timberwolves. The Houston star has missed the last seven games due to a hamstring injury and the results have been mixed. Houston won four of its seven games without Harden, but it did see a more aggressive side of Chris Paul in Harden's absence.

This will be a strange return for Harden and the Rockets, because they'll be without Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green. The two have been suspended due to their role in a postgame altercation with the Clippers. So even with Harden back, the Rockets will still not be at full strength.

Coach Mike D'Antoni said that Harden will be limited to about 25 minutes in his first game back.

"He's a Hall of Famer," D'Antoni said. "He'll figure it out. He'll be a little rusty. But he's raring to go. I'll put my money on him. It wouldn't surprise me that he would be great. It wouldn't surprise me that he'd be rusty. I just know he's happy to be back."  

Before the injury, Harden was considered the MVP front-runner due to how dominant he had been offensively. There was concern the injury would knock him out of the running with other stars like LeBron James having great seasons. However, nobody took advantage of the opportunity and Harden is still largely the mid-season favorite for the award.

Houston will have Harden on a minutes restriction as it wants to keep its superstar healthy the entire season. Considering it's had problems in the past with Harden running out of gas in the playoffs due to injury, or just a heavy workload, this is definitely a smart decision on the Rockets' part. Let Harden slowly work his way back and once he's fully healthy they can take him off a restriction and let him run wild.