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Houston Rockets: Is this the break through year for James Harden?

By Evangelos Kotsifis

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 29: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets dribbles the ball against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on December 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 29: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets dribbles the ball against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on December 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Since being traded to the Houston Rockets, the “Beard” has had great season after great season but the Rockets haven’t got past the Western Finals. Will this be the year James Harden will compete (again) for an NBA Championship?

Year in and year out, it seems that the Houston Rockets are leaning more and more on their superstar to carry them to glory. At times, it seemed like anything good happening on offense must come from the hands of the versatile guard, otherwise production plummeted.

This season though, Chris Paul is playing alongside Harden and the play making responsibilities are shared between the two.

Having another master ball handler and distributor paid dividends for the Rockets as their offense looks more balanced. Sure, they will look for Harden to bail them out when things get tough but their offense feels fluid and more players are contributing.

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Clint Capela has been a beast when rolling to the beast and Eric Gordon is sniping from distance. At the same time, James Harden is having a career year.

Looking at his 2017-18 NBA stats, Harden shows all around improvement. His scoring lies at 31.7 points per game while showing unprecedented shooting efficiency with 62.1 percent. He is the cornerstone of Mike D’Antoni’s offensive schemes as evidenced by his 36 percent usage rate and carries the task neatly, as shown by his personal best of 2.08 assist to turnover ratio.

Obviously, his assist numbers have taken a fall at 9.0 per game – having one of the best point guards of the last decade playing next to you justifies the drop. In the meantime, stats indicate that he is at least trying to play some credible defense averaging 1.8 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.

The former Sixth Man of the Year award recipient in 2012 is undoubtedly having an outstanding season. Adding to his personal accolades, his Houston Rockets sit comfortably at the second place of the Western Conference, far behind the leading Golden State Warriors but ahead of everybody else in the Wild Wild West.

Alas, as it often stated in professional sports, the regular season is a warmup to the real challenge, the NBA Playoffs and true greats are judged by the amount of silverware they bring back home at the end of the campaign.

Right now, it seems that whoever emerges victorious in the West will have the upper hand in the NBA Finals. Cleveland is struggling with it’s terrible defense (though there are trade rumors surfacing) and Boston is unproved under the brightest of lights.

There are a lot of teams competing in the Western Conference but in the end there can be only one. And that team will have to beat the reigning Champions, the super-team of the Bay area.

Must Read: NBA Trade Rumors: The Hornets should trade Kemba Walker to the Sixers

Will James Harden’s heroics, Chris Paul’s craftiness , the offensive schemes of Mike D’Antoni and Daryl Morey’s advanced analytics blend into Championship glory? We are only five months away from finding out.

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