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Huge James Harden season stats also include a ton of turnovers

The Houston Rockets are 35-37 this season and half a game out of the playoff race, behind the 8th seed Utah Jazz. James Harden is putting up monster stats: 28.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.75 steals per game. But in an effort to carry this squad, he’s also averaging 4.6 turnovers per game. That’s a ton. Here’s the Denver Post blog with more:

Houston Rockets guard James Harden has a chance to break the league’s all-time single-season turnovers record. At 332 with 10 games remaining, Harden needs just 34 to tie Artis Gilmore’s 39-year-old mark, according to basketball-reference.com. He is on pace for 372.

The four-time all-star became the first player in a decade to reach at least 321 turnovers last season, the first since Miami’s Dwyane Wade (321) and Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson (344) in 2004-05. Iverson was the first to reach at least 340 since Clippers guard Ron Harper in the 1986-87 season.

In second place this year, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook has 303 through 71 games. He’s on pace for 350 — that’s tied with Charles Barkley’s 1985-86 season in Philadelphia. In third, Washington’s John Wall (291) is trending toward 336 — top-20 all-time.

Alan Anderson day-to-day with groin injury

The Washington Wizards are 35-36 and if the season ended today would miss the playoffs. Here’s the Washington Post blog with a health update:

Alan Anderson has not played in three of the last four games for the Washington Wizards and the team has listed him as out because of ankle ailment. Coach Randy Wittman has said it’s been Anderson’s left ankle, which he had surgery on in October, which forced him to miss the first 55 games of the season.

But Anderson’s agent said Thursday that Anderson is dealing with a groin injury, not an ankle problem, and his status is “day to day.” The Wizards host the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday before beginning a five-game west-coast trip Sunday in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

Jazz enjoy big win road vs Rockets

The NBA playoff race is heating up, and in the West the Utah Jazz are now the 8th seed, slightly ahead of the Houston Rockets. Utah also now has the same record as the Dallas Mavericks, who are currently the 7th seed. Here’s the Deseret News reporting:

Before Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder didn’t want to hear about how important the game was, even though the two teams are jockeying for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“It gets you on a slippery slope,” he said, pointing out that the game against the Rockets two months ago was just as big in the grand scheme of things and that every Jazz game is important.

But after a gutsy, come-from-behind 89-87 victory over the Rockets at the Toyota Center, Snyder was all smiles, reveling in his team’s resolve in overcoming an 18-point first-half deficit and sort of admitting how big the win was.

“We had big performances, guys stepped up,” he said. “Our guys composed themselves and started getting some stops and that opened things up for us.”

Help coming soon for the Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are 38-34 and one game ahead of the Chicago Bulls for the 8th spot in the Eastern conference. We’re down to the wire in the 2016 NBA playoff race. For this squad especially, each remaining win/loss matters. Here’s Michigan Live with a health update:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock were back at the Detroit Pistons’ practice facility today and presumably will be recovered well enough from their illnesses to play Friday against the Charlotte Hornets.

The two guards both fell ill Wednesday and missed that night’s 118-102 victory over the Orlando Magic.

Darrun Hilliard got his first NBA start in their absence.

Festus Ezeli ahead of schedule in knee rehab

The Warriors are 63-7 this season. That’s a 90 percent winning percentage. And they’ll be even better when backup center Festus Ezeli, the team’s fifth leading scorer (7.5 ppg), third leading rebounder (5.9 rpg) and third leading shot-blocker (1.23 bpg) returns to action. Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting:

Festus Ezeli said Wednesday that he’s ahead of schedule in his return from left knee surgery, adding some optimism to an otherwise choppy contract year for the Warriors’ backup center.

“I mean, to be honest, this is not an ideal contract year for me,” Ezeli said in his first public statements since the team updated his progress from a Feb. 8 arthroscopic procedure. “I started off, and I felt like I was gaining confidence and I was playing pretty well. I was getting a feel for the chemistry of the team, and we were bonding.

“Getting hurt right there in the middle is not ideal, but you can only focus on what you can control. Right now, I’m just working on my rehab and working on getting back, so I can work toward our main goal, which is to win a championship.”

Huge Jazz-Rockets game tonight

Through Tuesday’s games, the Rockets have the 8th seed in the Western conference, with the Jazz just half a game behind them for 9th. The two teams play against each other tonight in Houston. Huge matchup. Here’s the Salt Lake Tribune reporting:

Gordon Hayward began celebrating his 26th birthday on Wednesday in as much style as is possible for an NBA player about to play his biggest game of the regular season. There was a brief shootaround. He was serenaded by the Utah Jazz rookies. Assistant coach Steven Schwartz penned a hip-hop verse in his honor.

Besides that, there weren’t too many smiles and laughs coming from Hayward, the Jazz small forward. A win over the Houston Rockets is all he and anyone associated with the organization really wants.

This is the chance the Jazz have been waiting for. They are currently a half-game behind the Rockets with 12 to play. The tie-breaker for the season between the two teams is at stake, which means tonight essentially counts as two games in the standings. With four teams jostling for the Western Conference’s last three playoff spots, the enormity of tonight’s game at the Toyota Center can’t be understated.

Timberwolves sign Greg Smith for remainder of season

The Minnesota Timberwolves today signed forward/center Greg Smith for the rest of the season. Smith was originally signed to a 10-day contract on March 2, then signed to a second 10-day contract on March 12.

Smith is used sparingly, and in 10.3 minutes per game is averaging 2.3 points, on 56.3% shooting, and 1.6 rebounds over nine games for the Wolves this season. He scored four points and grabbed six rebounds in 18 minutes Mar. 4 at Milwaukee and tallied six points and four rebounds in the Wolves’ win over Mar. 5 vs. Brooklyn.

The 25-year-old Smith also appeared in 16 games with the Raptors 905 in the NBA D-League this season, averaging 12.4 points, on 51.0% shooting, and 8.3 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game.

Smith spent three seasons with the Houston Rockets (2011-14) before joining the Dallas Mavericks in 2014-15. He holds NBA career averages of 4.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.5 minutes over 131 career games (12 starts).

No reason to think Phil Jackson will eventually coach the Knicks

If you were Phil Jackson, getting paid massive money by the New York Knicks to make a few decisions here and there but mostly just relax and enjoy life, would you mess that up and return to the coaching grind? Of course not. There is no reason to think that Jackson will be coaching the Knicks next season, or ever. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

If you’re still holding out a shred of hope Phil Jackson will run the Knicks bench at the Garden next season in light of recent rumors, stop.

Charley Rosen, Jackson’s confidant, met with the Zen Master before Sunday’s loss to Sacramento, and told The Post there is “zero percent” chance that proposed home-and-away scenario occurs next season.

“Phil said it’s absolutely not true — there’s no chance he’s going to coach,’’ Rosen told The Post. “It’s total fantasy — an old rumor.’’

What made the idea not so preposterous is Jackson, who will be 71 in September, wouldn’t have to put his body through the travel grind.

Jahlil Okafor undergoes knee surgery

Philadelphia 76ers rookie center Jahlil Okafor, the team’s best building block for the future, underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure today to fix a slight meniscus tear in his right knee. He won’t play again this season.

The team describes the procedure as minor.

Okafor will begin his rehabilitation program tomorrow under the guidance of Sixers Director Of Performance Research & Development Dr. David T. Martin.

The Sixers are a league-worst 9-62 this season. Okafor has been their leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, averaging 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Chandler Parsons out with knee injury

Dallas Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons will not travel with the squad on their upcoming road trip due to a right knee injury. The team says that treatment options are currently being explored.

Between Wednesday, March 23 and Monday, March 28 the Mavericks play on the road against the Trail Blazers, Warriors, Kings and Nuggets.

Chandler (6-10, 230) has played in 61 games (51 starts) and averaged 13.7 points, while shooting .490 from the field and .414 from 3-point range in 29.5 minutes. He also has averaged 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists.