James Harden is carrying the Rockets. Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
Monday night the Houston Rockets defeated the Utah Jazz in a fantastic battle, 102-97. It was their fourth straight victory, and Houston pulled themselves above the .500 waterline for just the second time this season.
The Rockets 2018-2019 campaign to date hasn't exactly lived up to it's preseason contender status billing. At times they have looked like world beaters, and at times they've looked lottery-bound. They have been injured, and they have had to deal with what looks like one of the biggest whiffs of an off-season general manager Daryl Morey has ever assembled.
Chris Paul looks aged. Eric Gordon has yet to find his shot nearly 30 games in. The Carmelo Anthony experiment failed in what felt like a little over a week, and the Rockets as a whole have become the 7th worst 3-point shooting team in the league. Yet in spite of all of the turmoil this season one constant remains.
James Harden is still really, really good.
In Monday's victory over the Jazz, Harden was good for 47 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. It was his sixth game this season scoring 40+ points. That's good for the most 40-point games this season in the league to date.
It doesn't stop there. Last week Harden notched his second and third triple-doubles of the season, scoring 50 points and 32 in each on his way to being named the Western Conference Player of the week. In last year's MVP campaign Harden had four triple-doubles total.
With most of Harden's assist options rendered unreliable, The Beard has been forced to carry the team on his back. And while no one will ever mistake his game as pretty, he has cinched up the straps and dominated the game the way superstars in the NBA are expected to.
As of this writing James Harden is:
- 1st in points per game (31.5)
- 3rd in points scored (819)
- 1st in 3-pointers made (106)
- 2nd in free throws made (223)
- 7th in assists (213)
- 3rd in steals (213)
- 1st in usage (37.4%)
- 3rd in player efficiency rating (28.0)
The last two are the most telling. What that basically says is that the Rockets use Harden more than any team uses any other player, and in spite of that he remains one of the most efficient and effective players in the game.
See, the difference between basketball and other sports is that - because the team size is so small, and the skill set required to be great is so extensive and rare - if you have a superstar on your team, you can and should contend. There are only a handful in the league at any given time, and Houston is currently in possession of one of the best.
The Rockets head into tonight's game against the Washington Wizards seeking their fifth straight win on their quest to reclaim legitimacy within the Western Conference. While the current run is inspiring, Houston remains quite distanced from their goal of Conference Finals rematch. It will take a consistent effort like that which is currently being presented to close the gap, and Harden looks poised, ready, and willing to do just that. Hopefully the rest of the team can follow suit.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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