NBA Players of the Week: James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Thaddeus Young of the Indiana Pacers

Kyle Irving

NBA Players of the Week: James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Thaddeus Young of the Indiana Pacers image
James Harden and Thaddeus Young have been named Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, the league announced Monday.
2018-19 Players of the Week
  Western Eastern
Week 1 Nikola Jokic Kemba Walker
Week 2 Stephen Curry Giannis Antetokounmpo
Week 3 Russell Westbrook Victor Oladipo
Week 4 CJ McCollum Pascal Siakam
Week 5 Anthony Davis Nikola Vucevic
Week 6 Tobias Harris Giannis Antetokounmpo
Week 7 Paul Millsap Kawhi Leonard
Week 8 Stephen Curry Bradley Beal
Week 9 James Harden Thaddeus Young

James Harden

Harden was honoured as the Western Conference Player of the Week after posting a pair of triple-doubles in the Houston Rockets' 3-0 week.

This is Harden's first Player of the Week nod this season and his 19th in his career, all as a member of the Rockets. In Houston's three wins, Harden averaged a ridiculous 37.0 points, 8.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals while shooting 54.1 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range.

In their win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the reigning MVP dropped a 50-point triple-double with 11 assists and 10 rebounds. This was his fourth 50-point triple-double of his career which is the most by any player in NBA history.

Though the Rockets have struggled to start the season, Harden has not. He is averaging a league-best 30.9 points while ranking in the top five in both assists (8.3 apg) and steals (2.0 spg). His 5.8 rebounds per game puts him in elite company for the time-being, joining Michael Jordan (1988-89) as the only player to have averaged at least 30.0 points, 8.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in a single season since steals became an official statistic in 1973-74.

Houston's perfect week brings them back to .500 on the season at 14-14, just 1.5 games out of the Western Conference playoff picture.

Thaddeus Young

Young was honoured as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after playing a key role in extending the Indiana Pacers' win streak to seven games.

Indiana went a perfect 4-0 last week with Young posting 18.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.8 steals over those four games. He recorded double-doubles in three of the four contests and shot an efficient 55.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from long range.

His most impressive game of the week came in the Pacers' win over the Milwaukee Bucks where Young scored a season-high 25 points (9-14 FG) to go with 11 rebounds, four assists, and five steals. In the very next game against the Philadelphia 76ers, he surpassed that season-high by scoring 26 points in that victory.

Young is only averaging 11.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 steals this season but has been much better as of late. Over their seven game win streak, he has all of those numbers up averaging 16.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting higher percentages from the field, 3-point range and the free throw line.

The Pacers are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 20-10 record. This is Young's second career Player of the Week nod and his first since 2014 as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.