James Harden

James Harden destroyed the Utah Jazz on Sunday night. In 35 minutes of action, The Beard dropped 56 points and 13 assists on a scintillating 19-of-25 shooting. He was 7-of-8 from downtown and 11-of-12 at the charity stripe. His 56-burger, it turns out, left him one point shy of the Houston Rockets’ scoring record, which [...]

So much for the Houston Rockets being able to limit James Harden’s minutes. Part of what made Chris Paul’s arrival so appealing is what it meant for the team’s floor balance. Harden looked gassed by the end of Houston’s second-round loss to the San Antonio Spurs last year. Teaming up with Paul meant he wouldn’t [...]

Chris Paul is just like you—provided, of course, you also enjoy watching James Harden play. The Houston Rockets’ new point guard, who missed the team’s win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday with a knee bruise, continues to revel in seeing Harden operate, almost to a fault, per ESPN.com’s Tim MacMahon: “One of the biggest [...]

Okay, so let’s all get caught up on this beef between James Harden and former Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale. McHale, who coached Harden for three seasons and change, doesn’t think the runner-up MVP is a leader. Harden, by comparison, disagrees. The end. (We jest.) Here’s what McHale initially said about Harden during an [...]

As the games evolves and players devise new ways to gain an advantage by skirting or stretching the rules, the NBA has an obligation to monitor these things closely and update their rule book accordingly. They are in the process of doing so this off-season to curb tanking and now they are implementing a few [...]

What’s next for the Houston Rockets after trading for Chris Paul and signing James Harden to a four-year, $170 million extension? If they have their way, a Carmelo Anthony trade, according to ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst: The Rockets have fast-tracked the Harden extension with the arrival of All-Star guard Chris Paul and are turning full [...]

Los Angeles Clippers coach and president Doc Rivers has some thoughts on the Chris Paul trade, and they amount to this: The point guard fled Hollywood to partner with James Harden. End of story. Here are his exact words, via the Los Angeles Times‘ Broderick Turner: [tweet https://twitter.com/BA_Turner/status/880246123855716352] If you detect some bitterness, you’re not [...]

There may be some legs to the Houston Rockets’ chances of poaching Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers. Serious ones. According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Rockets have emerged as a legitimate threat to sign Paul, a courtship that is being led by none other than James Harden: The Houston Rockets have emerged as increasingly serious [...]

The Houston Rockets don’t want James Harden going anywhere. So they’re going to make sure he doesn’t. After earning an All-NBA selection, Harden is now eligible for the designated player extension that was negotiated into the NBA’s new CBA. The deal, for him, would be worth four years and $168 million, and the Rockets plan [...]

James Harden picked one helluva time to lay an egg. Despite facing a San Antonio Spurs squad that was missing its best player, Kawhi Leonard, Harden and the Houston Rockets folded on Thursday night, losing the game by 39 points and the series 4-2. Harden, one of the MVP frontrunners, was absolutely atrocious. He had more [...]