Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden says he feels “very, very confident” he will return before the postseason begins later this month.

Harden, who has been out since April 5 with a hamstring strain, made the comments during a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. He added that he feels “really good” and is working on conditioning, changing speed and changing direction.

The Nets are hoping to have a healthy Harden, along with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, for the playoffs and go on a deep run towards the franchise’s first NBA championship.

Head coach Steve Nash said back on April 21 that Harden had suffered a setback.

“James, he’ll be back when he’s back,” Nash said then. “That may not be until the playoffs. It may be sooner. I don’t know. We have no control over that other than working as hard as we can to support him and getting back to full health to play again. We’re prepared for whenever that may be.”

Hee added: “Yeah, back to square one. We’ll rehabilitate him and get him back whenever we can, and who knows when that will be.”

Harden had been playing at an MVP level since coming over to Brooklyn from the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster three-team trade in January. He was averaging 25.2 points, an NBA-best 10.9 assists and 8.0 rebounds before being sidelined with a hamstring strain on April 5.

The Nets (43-23) are currently two games back of the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 1 seed in the East.