10 Moments That Defined James Harden's Historic Season

James Harden's season started with controversy, but it may end with an MVP and a scoring championship. The Houston Rockets superstar has done nothing but back up his words, all year long.

Last summer,  Joaquin Henson of The Philippine Star reported: 

"

As for the Rockets' future, Harden said he's not worried that Jeremy Lin has left for the Los Angeles Lakers and Chandler Parsons for the Dallas Mavericks.

“Dwight (Howard) and I are the cornerstones of the Rockets,” said Harden. “The rest of the guys are role players or pieces that complete our team. We've lost some pieces and added some pieces. I think we'll be fine next season.”

"

The statement, at the time, was read as a swipe at his teammates. But now, with all the injuries the Rockets have faced, and with all Harden has done to carry the team to a potential No. 2 seed, in spite of them, it's hard to find fault with what Harden said. 

In fact, if you're going to tug at strings, the only one you can pull on is the inclusion of Howard as a co-star.  

Let's review some of the most spectacular moments and singular achievements which exemplify Harden's fantastic year and are symbolic of his overall game. Some of the moments are symbolic of his overall game. The rankings are in order of significance, based on my subjective opinion.

10. Game-Securing Steal Against the Milwaukee Bucks

One of the big criticisms of Harden last year was that he was lazy on defense. Things have changed, though. Harden has been locked-in all season on the less sexy end. 

He's been doing it throughout the game. Per NBA.com/Stats, he's in the 63.7 percentile defending the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll, the 61.4 percentile in isolation and the 64.4 percentile on spot-ups. He's, at a minimum, an above-average stopper now and arguably in the top third of the league. 

And he's doing things in critical moments of games, such as in the fantastic play above, where he forces the ball loose, chases it down and calls the timeout to secure the victory for the Rockets over the Milwaukee Bucks.

9. Harden Does Unto Chris Paul as Chris Paul Has Done Unto Others

Harden's passing game is hugely underrated because his scoring draws so much attention, but as the video above shows, Harden's court vision and accuracy in passing is there with anyone's. How often do you see Chris Paul get Chris Pauled? 

Using data from Harden's passing dashboard, I determined that when he passes the ball, his teammates shoot 55.8 percent from two and 37.2 percent from three. Compare that with the 49.8 percent and 33.9 percent when he doesn't pass them the ball. 

Furthermore, 238 of the Rockets threes have come off Harden's passes, and 200 have been made by him. That means 49.5 percent of the Rockets' 884 made threes have been orchestrated by The Bearded One. No one else in the league has 200 threes, both scoring and assisting. (Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors has 178 passing).

8. The Destruction of Ricky Rubio

Harden is the best isolation player in the league by such a wide margin that there should be a blank space next to No. 2. Here are the top five, based on NBA.com's play-type tracking . 

1. James Harden: 599
2. LeBron James: 415
3. Kyrie Irving: 258
4. Louis Williams: 254
5. Tyreke Evans: 244

So, when people complain that all Harden does is flop to get to the line, keep things like this in mind. His step-back, crossover is arguably the hardest shot to defend in the game, and that sets up those free throws. 

Harden is so effective, fast and aggressive going to the rim that defenders have to honor that. But the moment they do, Harden makes them pay for that commitment by stopping on a dime, stepping back and draining a three. 

And when the defender's body gets so confused, trying to go in both directions at the same time, Harden drives into him, drawing the foul. That's just smart basketball set up by really good basketball. It's not pretty, but it's efficient.

7. We've Got to Start Playing Better

I wanted to include this, even though it's not a play because it really illuminates the difference between Harden's attitude toward his "role players" and what's been billed. 

It came after a loss to the Washington Wizards on Dec. 29. Harden scored 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting, but he shouldered the blame for the loss, saying the starters had to "start playing better." Yet, he gave the second unit credit, saying his teammates "played hard and kept fighting, kept fighting." 

It wasn't a monumental event. It didn't turn the Rockets' season around. But it demonstrates Harden's continued maturity. He's turned into a leader as the season progressed. You can see it from him on the court, coaching his teammates and encouraging or chiding them depending on what's needed.  

This little interview shows something more important than a spectacular play; it shows the leadership of a special teammate.

6. Chef Harden Starts Cooking

Chef Harden has been cooking ya'll. When he makes big shots, he's taken to making a stirring gesture. Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated wrote, “That means something’s cooking,” says his housemate and former high school teammate Greg Howell.

The gesture has gotten some media attention. Bleacher Report's Giancarlo Ferrari-King did some research into it and speculates the origin might be Flicka Da Wrist by Chedda Da Connect. 

It's origin isn't as special as the effect, though. As Ferrari-King shows in the piece, the fans are doing it too. 

Such things aren't really significant on the surface, but like Rally Monkeys and Rally Squirrels, things that can get fans involved can galvanize professional sports teams to postseason success. And even if that doesn't happen, it's still fun. 

And it begs the question: Can Harden actually cook?

5. Harden Hits 50

Harden had a career-high 50 points when he squared off against the Denver Nuggets on March 19.

The performance came at a special time, as that night the previous Rockets champions were there, including Hakeem Olajuwon. Per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: 

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Fittingly, the 50-point performance – the ninth in Rockets history – was the first since Olajuwon’s 51 against the Celtics in 1996, when the Rockets that lined the court on Thursday reigned as NBA’s champions as they reigned at Toyota Center on Thursday.

“You know what, that’s a special group right there,” Harden said. “We’re trying to build something special like they did. To play a game in front of them was definitely an honor. Having those guys here made it a special night. It made it that much more special.”

"

To go for 50 is special. To do it for the first time, even more so. But to do it in front of your franchise's greatest player? That's downright delicious! I guess Harden can cook.

4. Game-Winner over Phoenix

James Harden has been putting the "clutch" in Clutch City all season.

His 133 crunch-time points (with five minutes or less in the fourth quarter or overtime and the score within five leads) the NBA. Those have come in 135 minutes of playing time. The Rockets are 24-14 in those situations. 

When it's three minutes or less, Harden's scored 94 points in 82 minutes, and the Rockets are 22-11. And with 60 ticks left on the clock, he's notched 51 points in 29 minutes, and the Rockets are 20-9. 

In other words, the tighter the situation, the more the Rockets lean on Harden, and as they do, their chances of winning go up. He's been the NBA's best clutch performer this year. 

That is why, when the game's on the line, the only thing to do is go to him and his best move. Just ask the Phoenix Suns, who Harden beat with this buzzer on Jan. 23, if it works.

3. Showdown with Westbrook

When the Rockets traveled to play the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 5, it was billed as a matchup between MVP candidates, with Russell Westbrook being the host's nominee. 

He'd been averaging 30.4 points, 10.5 assists and 8.6 rebounds since the All-Star Game, and that Oscar Robertson-like production was getting him MVP chatter. The fact that he was keeping the Thunder in the playoff hunt in spite of a plethora of injuries didn't hurt. 

On that front, he wasn't going to get a lot of sympathy from Harden. 

The game didn't disappoint as the two heavyweights traded punches. In the end, it came down to Harden doing what he's done all season: play huge down the stretch. Starting with 4:33 left—on a run spanning just over two minutes—Harden scored or assisted on 14 straight Rockets points and a two-point lead swelled to seven.

Westbrook retaliated with a three and then drew a foul on Harden to put him out of the game. Afterward, Westbrook hit another three to make it close. But it was too little, too late, and eventually the Rockets pulled out the win 115-112.

Westbrook finished with a triple-double: 40 points, 13 assists and 11 boards. Harden had 41 points, six dimes and six grabbed misses. But Westbrook shot 41.5 percent for the game, and Harden shot 54.5 percent; that was the difference. 

2. Three Dozen, Triple-Dozen

On March 6, Harden had what I call a "Three dozen, triple-dozen." What that means is 36 points (the three dozen) to go 12 points and 12 assists (the triple-dozen). To lump something like that with more "mortal" looking triple-doubles seemed to sell it short. 

So I checked to see how many of these have been executed, and it's extremely rare. Since at least 1985, as far back as Basketball-Reference.com's play index goes, it's been accomplished just seven times by five players. The other four are LeBron James, who has done it three times, Larry Bird, Jason Kidd and Olajuwon. 

Another statement that drew derision this summer was when Harden said, "I'm the best all-around basketball player in the NBA." And since stating it, he's backed it up. 

In fact, the only time in history a player has qualified for the scoring title and surpassed Harden in all five box-score categories was Michael Jordan in 1988-89. 

So yeah, that's pretty good all-around play. 

1. 51—No Foolin'

On April Fools' Day, Harden wasn't fooling around. He dropped 51 points—a new, new career high—against the Sacramento Kings.

In his first 50-point game (see slide No. 5), Harden became the 199th player to accomplish the feat. With this one, he became just the 30th to record two in one season. 

But more than the game, which was of little significance beyond Harden's accomplishment, it established the MVP race as a two-man competition between Harden and Curry. It's hard to definitively quantify that, but it certainly seems that way. 

Matt Moore of CBS Sports has trimmed it down to the pair in his brilliant analysis. That seems to be the conventional thinking now. 

Statistically, they're very close, so it may come down to story.

Curry's Warriors are having a historic season, and I have no issues if he wins it.

But the Rockets have had more injuries than any team in the league except the Minnesota Timberwolves, per mangameslost.com. Yet, Harden, has the them with a potential No. 2 seed in the monstrously tough Western Conference. 

So it comes down to Curry's great team or Harden's outstanding leadership. If the Beard were to win, it would give an ironic kind of closure to his controversial, preseason comments.