Video: Is James Harden having the best scoring season ever?

[Bronbron23]

We forget quickly. Steph was putting up 33 on 70% TS to start the year, above his 2016 level. His numbers settled back down to earth( by those standards) once he got injured which is always the big issue with him, being able to sustain that kind of burden without breaking down. But I'd take 33ppg on 70%TS, with Kevin Durant putting up 28ppg on his own, any day of the week.

It's a close call between those 2. Steph is a better shooter but harden is a better finisher and iso scorer. Neither is amazing come playoff time. I'd probably take Steph also but it's close

[Manny98]

Taking into account team success,playoffs,defensive rules Harden isn't even top 10 yet

12 LeBron
91 Jordan
00 Shaq

Off the top of my head are easily better

[Phoenix]

Sure, but the defense can't exactly focus all it's efforts on Curry when you have a Durant in addition to the second best three point shooter of all-time, who's known for going off and getting 30 in a quarter or 60 in a game every so often.

Harden gets the full attention of a defense, even though he benefits from the whistles.

Perhaps but Golden State doesn't really skip much of a beat when Durant's out. Bear in mind that the 2016 season he didn't have Durant there either. He did have Klay but I'd suggest Klay probably benefits from Steph more than the reverse. Klay's good for one 'nuclear' night a year but it's not like he routinely puts up those performances. I'm really measuring this more but how they score than just their numbers. Steph is out there dancing on you and shooting impossibly long range 3's, that's just unreal ability. You're literally afraid the moment he hits half court because all he needs is a split seconds daylight to get the shot off. Harden doesn't inspire' that' kind of fear or warp the defense to that extent. I just don't have much respect for the nature of Harden's offensive game, as effective as it is( in the regular season). Dribbling the air out the ball, initiating content to draw fouls and slowing down the pace of the game with numerous trips to the line, spamming 3s regardless of whether he's on or off that night from distance. He's mastered the rules and bends them to his will, he's not wrong, but it's not pretty to watch in many cases.

[Elosha]

Noone will respect enough to put Harden in there.

He expects to get away with this, because he usually does.
https://streamable.com/h0soo

He's always like this.
https://streamable.com/m2o0m

He got a call for this.
https://streamable.com/vh1v1

This is an offensive foul, he steps on the defender's foot. Gets a triple to the line.
https://streamable.com/gf72b

And those are just past week. Noone actually watching will credit enough to claim he's up there. He's not better than Curry, Kobe and Mike. And even arguably than Durant. KD averaged 35 over 42 games in 2013-14 (not far off from Harden's 36 over 47 games) and he was more efficient.

Those are GREAT examples. And things like this happen routinely for Harden. I'm not sure I've ever seen a player get the benefit of the doubt as often as him. And I'm really not sure why refs let him get away with it. If he were called even close to evenhandedly, it would have a huge impact on his scoring numbers, not to mention he'd probably be in danger of fouling out in quite a few games.

Harden isn't even that fun to watch when compared to other great scorers today or from past eras. So why does the league bend over backwards to protect him? At least, they don't seem to favor him as much in the playoffs, which is why his post-season scoring usually drops considerably.

[Phoenix]

Those are GREAT examples. And things like this happen routinely for Harden. I'm not sure I've ever seen a player get the benefit of the doubt as often as him. And I'm really not sure why refs let him get away with it. If he were called even close to evenhandedly, it would have a huge impact on his scoring numbers, not to mention he'd probably be in danger of fouling out in quite a few games.

Harden isn't even that fun to watch when compared to other great scorers today or from past eras. So why does the league bend over backwards to protect him? At least, they don't seem to favor him as much in the playoffs, which is why his post-season scoring usually drops considerably.

Such bullshit on every single one of those calls.

[pauk]

With 0 FG attempts he is averaging 12 ppg on simply freethrows... and can average 20+ ppg on just freethrows if he wanted....

He is making only 10 FG attempts per game, which is very good... but is something say Lebron for example does every season (with far less shots even FAAAAAR less freethrows).... So he is really not having the best scoring season... i mean the guy is not hot, on fire, draining shots, making BUCKETS, historically... He is more like having one of the best FT exploiting seasons ever...

Here is a grain of salt

[Elosha]

With 0 FG attempts he is averaging 12 ppg on simply freethrows... and can average 20+ ppg on just freethrows if he wanted....

He is making only 10 FG attempts per game, which is very good... but is something say Lebron for example does every season (with far less shots even FAAAAAR less freethrows).... So he is really not having the best scoring season... i mean the guy is not hot, on fire, draining shots, making BUCKETS, historically... He is more like having one of the best FT exploiting seasons ever...

Here is a grain of salt

^ Clever.

[Elosha]

Such bullshit on every single one of those calls.

Absolutely. Which is why it's so infuriating, it's not even a "close call."

[Vragrant]

Harden shattered my expectations. He's the only player that makes scoring 40 look unwatchable.

[FireDavidKahn]

Because is an amazing offensive player?

People hate him because he does get away with questionable calls but they can't even acknowledge just how good he is anyway.

[OldSchoolBBall]

Scoring wise I'd take at least the following seasons above his off the top of my head:

Kareem '72
Jordan '87-'91
Kobe '06
Durant '14
Curry '16

Harden is playing in a JOKE of a league defensively (even more of a joke than the last few years). Wide open lanes, can't touch him, fishes for fouls and routinely gets 15-25 FT's for his efforts. It's a joke. Anyone who thinks he'd be putting up the same exact numbers volume and efficiency-wise in 2008, 1998, or 1988 is kidding themselves.

[4pointshot]

Thanks to the OP for the link to the video. A couple of comments.

While the emphasis is on Harden's last twenty games, that stretch can really be broken down into two phases. In the first 12 games of that stretch, Harden not only began increasing his 3PA, from 11 per game (which itself was an increase from his career high last year of 10 per game) to 16 per game, but hit them at an elite rate of 41.75%. The result was an average of 6.75 3PM per game, something far above anything even Curry has done in a twelve game stretch.

In his last 9 games, though, while Harden has continued his attempt rate of about 16 3PA per game, his hit rate has plummeted to below 30%, well below league average. No doubt a lot of that is just random, but if he can't increase his rate to something approaching his career and overall rate this season of around 37%, he's going to be a lot less effective.

The other point is related to how much Curry benefits from KD. Since KD joined the team, the Warriors are 22-4 in games in which KD was injured, and all the other starters played. In fact, they haven't lost a game in which only Durant was out since they rebounded about two weeks after his injury in 2017 and won 13 in a row. Conversely, they are 17-10 in games in which Curry did not play, but the other three AS did. Not a huge sample size, but it suggests Curry is more important to the team than Durant. Not surprising; after all, they did win 73 without him.

[tanibanana]

Best scoring season??? Nope.
Top-3 has solid argument though.