James Harden is ranked as the BEST player so far this season by ESPN.http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/17992488/nba-player-rankings-lebron-james-kevin-durant-james-harden-top
James Harden, take a bow.
Harden opened up his week on the road against James and the Cavs. His first quarter Tuesday proved to be precursor for the 11 quarters that followed. He scored 13 points, more than any player on either team. He dished out six dimes, also more than any player.
Harden finished that game with 41 points and 15 assists. He followed that up with 30 and 15 at Madison Square Garden and 30 and 12 in Atlanta. He finished the week averaging a tidy 33.7 PPG and 14.0 APG while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor in each game and averaging more rebounds (7.3) than his own starting center (Clint Capela, 6.7).
How rare is the week Harden just had? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, just three other players in NBA history -- Oscar Robertson, Nate Archibald and Tim Hardaway -- have ever played in three straight road games and finished with at least 30 points and 10 assists in all of them. Harden is the only one to do it while shooting at least 50 percent in each game.
Let's back up to that first quarter against Cleveland to really illustrate the value of his playmaking.
A run through the roster of his assists: Capela dunk. Another Capela dunk. Eric Gordon from inside the paint. Trevor Ariza layup. Nene dunk. Corey Brewer layup. Five of the six were from inside of two feet with the other an uncontested runner. He finished the week with 24 assists on shots made inside of two feet. No other player had more than 15.
If you only included his assists on those close looks, Harden's 8.0 APG for the week still would have ranked fifth in the NBA in total assists per game and ahead of prominent playmakers like Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Generating that volume of high percentage looks does wonders for an offense.
If that wasn't enough music for Houston GM Daryl Morey's ears, consider his other 18 assists. 15 of them were on 3-pointers, with the other three all inside the paint. Not a single mid-range shot among his 42 total assists. For a franchise that routinely takes the fewest mid-range shots of any team in the NBA, Morey himself couldn't have come up with a better distribution of shots created from his franchise player.
Harden's historic second week has further brought into focus some more rarified history. In 1972-73, Archibald became the first (and only) player to lead the NBA in points per game and assists per game in the same season. According to Elias, Archibald averaged 34.5 points and 10.8 assists through six games. Where Harden now stands (31.5 PPG and a league-leading 12.3 APG) is comparable and has at least opened the possibility of a season-long quest to stand alongside Archibald in the history books.
