At 27-9, the Houston Rockets are just 3.5 games back of the 30-5 Golden State Warriors. They are currently on a 5 game winning streak, having won 8 of their last 10 games and James Harden is putting up phenomenal numbers in the process. Harden is averaging 28.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 11.9 assists per game, putting him in the MVP conversation along with Russell Westbrook.
On New Year's Eve against the New York Knicks, James Harden exploded for 53 points, 16 rebounds, and 17 assists, becoming the first player to put up 50+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 15+ assists in a single game. That's Wilt Chamberlain type of production right there, folks.
Credit: Darral Chen. Click here for source
While James Harden is viewed as a ball hog and a chucker, it's not like he's not getting his teammates involved. 17 assists is getting your teammates involved. Furthermore, being a ball hog doesn't necessarily mean you hog the ball for the pure purpose of getting yourself points. James Harden hogs the ball because he literally wants to do it all and by "do it all", I mean he wants to get points, rebounds, assists, etc. James Harden is the closest thing we have to a "one man band" in the NBA since he doesn't have the same type of help around him that guys like LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Stephen Curry have. He literally is the Houston Rockets and without him, they would be a lottery bound team for sure.
The big question about the Houston Rockets is whether or not they can sustain this type of success for the duration of a season. In order for them to do so, James Harden will need to continue to play like a human video game while Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon continue to take some of the pressure off. In addition, they'll need to get healthy as soon as possible with both Patrick Beverley (wrist) and Clint Capela (fractured fibula) out at the moment.
If the Rockets are able to do all the things needed to be successful, they could prove to be a dark horse to come out of the Western Conference. I don't consider them a serious threat to win the NBA championship, but if you have a guy like James Harden on your team, you always have a shot to win any game in any venue. As cliché as it sounds, it's really the truth. Stars win championships and James Harden is playing like a star capable of leading a team to a championship. He's that good.
Note: Patrick Beverley should be back any day now. He was almost cleared to play Monday.
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