Unfortunately for the Rockets, the team is not exactly the same as the one that Harden played with six weeks ago. It's been eight games since second-leading scorer Thaddeus Young went down with a torn MCL late in a game against Phoenix. Young, expected to miss the season, had been averaging 19.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 2.4 steals on over 50% shooting in 17 games prior to the injury, in addition to his All-CSL caliber defense. Kenneth Faried his been huge in his absence, pushing his scoring average to 18.4ppg.
Harden knows that his teammates Faried, Iguodala, Marble, and Aminu are not ideal go-to options without him and Young out there, but applauded them for leading the Rockets to an 18-7 start with the best points per game average in the CSL. "These guys are resilient. They fought through everything to keep a top 2 seed in this conference. Now we've got 57 more regular season games to play, and 16 playoff games to win."
The depth of this Rockets roster kept them afloat during Harden's absence. After Harden, 8 other players are averaging double figures in games they played- an unreal statistic. Young (19.8ppg), Faried (18.4), Iggy (16.6), Marble (13.4), Aminu (12.8), Hawes (11.9), Collison (10.6), and Gortat (10.3) have all made the most of their opportunities on the court. Spencer Hawes in particular has been a real surprise. Hawes is playing 19 minutes per game and averaging a ridiculous 22/10 per 36 minutes after starting the regular season racking up DNPs.
As always, Harden believes he's the best player in the CSL, but he acknowledges that the ultimate goal is a championship, and that his teammates have to keep up their level of play in order to get there. "Facilitating has never been more important for us. We have Iggy and Darren, but I have to facilitate better- more assists, less turnovers is how I have to start approaching games, and hopefully we can keep having games where 7, 8 guys score double digits, even when I'm scoring well. If we can do that, we can beat anyone."
