{"id":18988,"date":"2019-02-22T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T13:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=18988"},"modified":"2019-02-21T23:49:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T04:49:08","slug":"james-hardens-historic-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2019\/02\/22\/james-hardens-historic-streak\/","title":{"rendered":"James Harden’s Historic Streak"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Harden<\/a><\/strong> is currently on a scoring tear not seen since the likes of Wilt Chamberlain<\/a><\/strong>, nearly 50 years ago. The Beard has topped the 30-point mark in 32 consecutive games. We\u2019ll take a look at how it all began, the streak\u2019s significance, and what the future holds for Harden\u2019s run.<\/p>\n

James Harden’s Historic Streak<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The Beginning<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It was a long time before Harden, or the Houston Rockets<\/a> got cooking this season. Houston got off to a shaky start. The Rockets began the season 12-14, prior to Harden\u2019s historic streak.\u00a0 On December 13th<\/sup>, it all began. The Beard and the Rockets hosted the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> and LeBron James<\/a><\/strong> in a pivotal, early-season matchup. LeBron hit the first two baskets of the game, but Harden wasn\u2019t about to let Houston\u2019s woes continue. The Beard\u2019s first basket of the game was his best dunk of the season.<\/p>\n

A vicious slam over JaVale McGee<\/a><\/strong> was followed by a sneer at LeBron by the Beard. The jam was an indicator that the real \u201cKing James\u201d may reside in Houston. Harden went on to finish the night with a 50-point triple-double.\u00a0 The Beard hasn\u2019t scored under 30 points since. And the Rockets are 21-10 during Harden\u2019s amazing run. Harden\u2019s 32 consecutive games topping 30 points ties him with Chamberlain for second on the all-time list.<\/p>\n

The Significance of the Streak<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Harden\u2019s scoring spree is about more than just fancy stats. The Beard has almost single-handedly kept the Rockets in the playoff hunt during his streak.\u00a0Chris Paul<\/a><\/strong> has missed 23 games this season. CP3\u2019s presence on the floor as another playmaker opens up the court for the Rockets. This allows Harden more spacing for isolation situations and creating opportunities for teammates. Without Paul, the defense is able to focus is on the Beard, making life more difficult for the reigning-MVP<\/a>.\u00a0Clint Capela<\/a><\/strong> has missed 15 games in this span. Houston\u2019s under-the-radar center is a crucial part of one of Harden\u2019s deadliest offensive arsenals. The pick-and-roll. Together, Harden and Capela are nearly unstoppable in the pick-and-roll.<\/p>\n

The Beard\u2019s consistency in dominating opposing defenses has been utterly impressive, given the amount of time Paul and Capela have missed. Eric Gordon<\/a><\/strong>, Houston\u2019s versatile guard is an exemplary fit alongside Harden, but the veteran has missed extended time as well.\u00a0Danuel House Jr.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was an exemplary fit alongside Harden, only to be then sent back to the G-League. Combine integrating three new guys (Austin Rivers<\/a><\/strong>, Kenneth Faried<\/a><\/strong>, Iman Shumpert<\/a><\/strong>) onto the\u00a0roster, with these factors, and Harden\u2019s streak is an astonishing feat. What\u2019s even more astounding is the impact the streak has had on the team. The Rockets\u2019 superstar has launched Houston all the way from the 14th<\/sup>spot, up to the 5th<\/sup>seed, into the thick of the playoff hunt.<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

How long can Harden keep scoring 30 a night? James has averaged a whopping 41.5 points per game throughout his scoring run. He\u2019s averaging 36.6 points per contest this season. That\u2019s the most points a player\u2019s averaged since Michael Jordan<\/a><\/strong>, back in the 1986-87 campaign. Many people expect the return of Clint Capela to have an effect on Harden\u2019s scoring.\u00a0The same people thought Chris Paul\u2019s return would end his streak. The truth is, Harden can score 30 points a night for the rest of the season. The return of Capela only makes the Beard\u2019s offensive arsenal deadlier.<\/p>\n

As of now, it looks like Harden won\u2019t be resting for the playoffs. Houston will be battling for playoff positioning down the stretch<\/a>.\u00a0 Harden and company currently hold the 5th\u00a0<\/sup>seed in the West, but Houston\u2019s goal is a top-3 seed in the playoffs. Harden has to score for the Rockets to win games. Mike D\u2019Antoni\u2019s entire system revolves around the Beard\u2019s driving and shooting ability. The streak won\u2019t go on forever. If you\u2019re a Harden-Hater, the streak could end tonight, or it could end next season.\u00a0Only time will tell when Harden\u2019s historic-run will come to a halt. Don\u2019t wait around praying for it to end, you might be praying for a long time.<\/p>\n

Main Image:
\nGUANGZHOU, CHINA – AUGUST 12: The NBA player James Harden of the Houston Rockets attends a commercial event at Haixinsha Asian Games Theme Park on August 12, 2017 in Guangzhou, China.\u00a0 (Photo by Stringer\/Anadolu Agency\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Harden is currently on a scoring tear not seen since the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, nearly 50 years ago. The Beard has topped the 30-point mark in 32 consecutive games. We\u2019ll take a look at how it all began, the streak\u2019s significance, and what the future holds for Harden\u2019s run. James Harden’s Historic Streak […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2909,"featured_media":13923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,2,31],"tags":[229,333,444,96,564,563],"class_list":["post-18988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-featured","category-rockets","tag-chris-paul","tag-houston-rockets","tag-james-harden","tag-nba","tag-nba-mvp","tag-nba-western-conference"],"modified_by":"Daniel Richeson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}