Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden had quite the stat line Monday night against the Washington Wizards.
James Harden, the reigning Most Valuable Player, finished with 54 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists, and 11 turnovers in the Rockets’ 135-131 loss to the Wizards. As pointed out on Reddit, Harden entered Monday averaging a career-high 5.5 turnovers per game. After 11 turnovers against the Wizards, he’s now almost at 6.0 per contest.
When someone is initiating the offense as much as James Harden is for the Rockets, the turnovers are naturally going to be high. It just comes with the territory. Ball-dominant players are always going to have high turnover rates. Defenses are honing in on Harden, more so lately because All-Star point guard Chris Paul is out with a leg injury.
Usually, Paul and James Harden alternate on who is going to initiate the offense. With Paul out, though, that onus falls on Harden’s shoulders. Expect to see his turnover numbers remain high until Paul comes back into the lineup. The Rockets just don’t have another player who can bring the ball up, set up the offense, and distribute the ball at the rate that Harden and Paul do.
With the loss to the Wizards, the Rockets are now 9-10 on the season.
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