It has been quite simply an unbelievable start to the season for Houston Rockets guard James Harden of Bellflower, California. Known simply as “the Beard”, Harden leads the NBA with 36.5 points per game. That is 4.8 more points per game than Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets, who is second on the list with 31.7 points per game.
Harden has emerged the heart and soul of the Rockets and quite simply could be considered as one of the best players in the entire NBA. On October 30, Harden was simply sensational as he scored an NBA season-high 59 points in a 159-158 overtime win over the Washington Wizards. In this game he nailed 56.3% of his 32 field goal attempts, successfully knocked down six baskets from beyond the arc and was flawless from the charity stripe as he made 17 of his 18 free throw attempts.
The least number of points Harden has made in a game this season was 19 in a 117-111 Rockets loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on October 24. Since then, Harden has had two games each with 29 and 36 points, one game with 40 points and another with 44 points. The Rockets are at 5-3 and are in a fifth-place tie in the Western Conference with the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers. It is only eight games in, but Harden’s 36.5 points per game, is 0.4 more points per game than he had in 2018-19 when he set a career-high with 36.1 points per game.
Harden is also developing great chemistry with newly acquired point guard Russell Westbrook. In a blockbuster deal on July 16, Westbrook was acquired by the Rockets from the Oklahoma City Thunder for point guard Chris Paul, two first-round draft picks and cash considerations. So far in 2019-20, Westbrook leads the Rockets with 8.7 assists per game and 1.9 steals per game and is the co-leader in rebounds per game with 9.6 as he is tied with Clint Capela. For a point guard to have that many rebounds per game is very special indeed.
