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Houston Rockets Playoff Primer: How Far Can James Harden Take Them?

By Ryan Magdziarz

Mar 31, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 31, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 17, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (left) holds back Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni (right) during a foul call against the Rockets in the second half against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 109-103. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (left) holds back Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni (right) during a foul call against the Rockets in the second half against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 109-103. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

The Houston Rockets are the X-factors in this years NBA playoffs, and they go as far as the real MVP takes them

The Houston Rockets finished this season with an overacheiving 55-27 record which locks them as the three seed in a very tough Western Conference. This regular season was a massive success in terms of where they were projected to finish. Vegas had Houston at 41 wins to begin the season.

The early expectations were that Houston would be a fringe playoff team that would make no impact in the first round. They crushed everyone’s educated preseason guesses by 14 wins thanks to three major changes.

The hiring of Mike D’Antoni aka the 2016-17 NBA Coach of the Year revamped the entire style of the Rockets. From 2003-08, MDA coached the Phoenix Suns to four 50+ win seasons with his emphasis on outscoring the opponent with fast pace run and gun style of play. This offense doesn’t work without an immaculate playmaker at PG which he had in Phoenix with Steve Nash.

Well, hello James Harden. A match made in heaven was a D’Antoni ran offense with The Beard as the captain of the ship. He is 100 percent responsible for being ranked 2nd in the league in points per game at 115.2. Harden is also guilty of having a 114.6 offensive rating (2nd in the league) while leading the NBA in free throws attempted, free throws made, and assists per game.

This legacy changing switch to point guard, building a fireteam of flame throwers to put around James, and the hiring of the coach of the year is what blew NBA analysts preseason expectations out of the water.

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