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James Harden has undeniable basketball expertise. He is still young and therefore this is unprecedented, but the expertise is there for sure. Right now, he is potentially right in the middle of one of the best individual NBA sprees of all time.
His recent games have drawn a lot of attention in his direction and his 29 footer against the Golden State Warriors was the cherry on top. This recent spur of incredible stats in terms of points per game and the kinds of threes he has been making has begun talk that Harden could go on to become one of the greatest players of all time. Harden is pushing the limits of the game.
#1 Number of unassisted threes
James Harden is a testament that elite shot production will not just garner but create attention. He has been able to create this attention at such a new level that he is now in a basketball class of his own.
Over this season especially, but ever since he has been in the NBA he has been shooting an unbelievable number of three-pointers. Considering the skill he has consistently shown, this is no longer surprising, however, what is surprising is the percentage of those shot without any assistance.
Only 14% of his three-pointers have been based on assists. Further what is mind-blowing is that these stats apply to his two-pointers as well. He lives up to his team name on the offensive side and nothing can slow him down.
Here are some more stats to prove the class that Harden has created this season. Harden has around 140 unassisted threes, and the number two shooter Steph Curry has close to 140 total threes.
He has averaged 16.4 points per game in isolation which puts him well above the total of the next three on the list. Harden seems to be able to easily capitalize on every opportunity that comes his way and is mastering the art of a relatively new concept in the NBA, shooting threes straight off the dribble.
#2 Number of single season threes
Not that there is any doubt that Harden will break many records this season, and already has. He broke one major record last season and that is for the number of three-pointers by a team in a season.
The Houston Rockets have been making it rain and Harden was at the heart of the matter. In 2016-17 their number of threes was impressive at 1181, but in the 2017-18 season, they broke the overall record in the playoffs. Game five against the Spurs was the magic number for them.
While breaking last years record was amazing, what is amazing is their consistency. They, under the leadership of Harden, have been on a consistent uphill slope of growth. They're in a strong streak moving forward and the new totals Harden is putting up seems to be a testament to that.
#1 Number of all time three-pointers
First of all, congratulations to the Beard for doing what he does. Having the kinds of numbers that he does is not the work of a mere mortal. Secondly, congratulations on making it to #16 on the list of all-time threes.
While the Rockets were playing Miami Heat in mid-December, James Harden made his 1761st three-pointers, pushing him to 16th on the list of the number of career threes made and pushed him over NBA veteran Peja Stojakovic. Harden has just made his way into his 10th year of basketball and has already established himself to become an all-time great shooter.
By the end of the season at the rate that he is going, he could possibly be up to 13th or even 12th position. He also has the chance of passing Dirk Nowitzki and JR Smith considering that his number of threes per game is significantly higher than these two's.
This just comes back to show how much the game has changed and how single playing styles have made these changes possible. The number of top 20 all-time three-point shooters that are currently active is unbelievable.
All we can say is that there are many more incredible threes to come.
