James Harden and Russell Westbrook owned the two highest-usage seasons in NBA history prior to the trade that sent Westbrook from the Thunder to the Rockets. Naturally, there was speculation about Harden being forced to take a backseat at times heading into the 2019-20 campaign after dominating Houston's offense for the better part of a decade.
So, about that...
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"The Beard" is shooting and scoring at a higher rate than ever before. He scored his season-low for points (19) against the Bucks in the Rockets' season opener, then totaled at least 27 points in every game since. Opposing defenses are throwing everything at Harden, but it doesn't matter — even extremely aggressive double-teams aren't working.
And yes, we know his style of play drives plenty of basketball fans to visceral anger and frustration. Look no further than this friendly interaction in San Antonio.
🗣: "No one wants to see a free throw shooting contest."
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) December 4, 2019
James Harden, right back: "Nobody wanna see fouls either, goddamn it!” 😳pic.twitter.com/LQJlc23QSG
Still, we shouldn't dismiss Harden's ridiculous numbers and MVP case because he's not as enjoyable to watch as Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James or Luka Doncic. Through his first 20 games, Harden is producing at a truly historic level.
39.5
After averaging 36.1 points per game in 2018-19, Harden is somehow up to 39.5 with Westbrook alongside him. That would give Harden the third-highest scoring season in league history behind only Wilt Chamberlain's two peak years (44.8 in 1962-63 and 50.4 in 1961-62). He is currently more than eight points ahead of Antetokounmpo, who is second with 31.0 points per game.
14
Harden is on pace to become the first player ever to average more than 14 3-point attempts (14.3) and 14 free throw attempts (14.9) over a full season. He is the only player to hit 10 in both categories, reaching those marks during both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Kings guard Buddy Hield is the only other player launching at least 10 3-pointers per game (10.5), and Antetokounmpo is the only player matching Harden with double-digit free throws (11.0).
285
At 285 3-point attempts through only a quarter of the season, Harden could easily shatter his own NBA single-season record of 1,028 set in 2018-19. He has hit on just 34.4 percent of those 3-pointers, so with a slight increase in efficiency (Harden finished at 36.8 percent last season), he will also be within range of Stephen Curry's record for 3-point makes (402).
298
Nearly 300 free throw attempts in 20 games. Just ridiculous. Based on his current average, Harden should finish with the second-most trips to the free throw line in NBA history behind Chamberlain, who took 1,363 free throws (17.0 per game) in 1961-62. Since he is shooting 87.6 percent at the line (261 of 298), Harden should also crush the record for free throws made, which was set by Jerry West (840) during the 1965-66 season.
1.11
Despite the offensive burden placed on his shoulders, Harden is scoring exactly as efficiently in isolation as he did last season at 1.11 points per possession, per NBA.com stats. Harden (289) has doubled the second-most frequent one-on-one players, James and Westbrook (117), in isolation possessions, and he has nearly tripled James (321 to 111) in isolation points.
