Five Takeaways From The Houston Rockets’ Hot Start

Nov 1, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dunks the ball during the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Celtics 104-90. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

5 – A new and refocused James Harden

The final and possibly the biggest takeaway from the Rockets’ hot start has been the play of James Harden. Harden has been operating an an elite level and his play has even drawn some to consider him in MVP discussions with Kevin Durant out of the race to due injury.

Harden has been facilitating the ball better than he’s ever done before in the absence of Chandler Parsons, he’s taken on an even larger scoring load with Jeremy Lin out of the picture, he’s getting to the free throw line at will, and most importantly he’s giving a more consistent effort on the defensive end. Yeah, you heard it right. James Harden is actually playing pretty decent defense. Maybe Coach K and the media rubbed off on him well?

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Whatever it is, Houston Rockets’ fans certainly aren’t complaining. He’s just taken such a hard command of this team and leadership role that such MVP talks aren’t absurd at all. Whether it’s the Team USA experience or the absence of Parsons, Harden has stepped up his game to an even higher level and the Rockets are seeing the payoffs right now in front of their eyes.

If he continues to play like this, the Rockets could surprise some teams in the West, especially with the injuries to Westbrook and Durant. Harden is averaging an unbelievable 27.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game this season and the only knock on his game so far has been his field goal percentage (a rather low 38.8%).

The Rockets hope to build off his incredible play this season and accomplish something special with this team heading into the post-season.