Phoenix Suns Have Tough Task When Dealing With Harden

The Phoenix Suns will try to slow down James Harden and his Houston Rockets tonight. Harden averages 27.8 PPG, 11.7 APG, and 8.1 RPG.

You better watch out, you better not cry. Better not pout, I’m telling you why. The Beard is coming to town.

James Harden and his Houston Rockets will come to play the Phoenix Suns tonight. For the Rockets, they’ve been playing unbelievably well lately. Despite their 102-100 loss against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, the Rockets have won ten games in their last eleven tries.

Their recent surge is the reason why they’re 21-8 and second place in the Southwest Division. They would be able to cruise as the front-runners in the division if not for the Spurs, who currently lead them by 2.5 games.

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Harden and his Rockets are living right, and rightfully so. For the Suns, it’s been over a week since they recorded their last win. Their 113-111 OT win against the New York Knicks on December 13 was their eighth, and most recent win.

Since then they’ve dropped three-straight games. They weren’t exactly blowouts; they lost by five to the San Antonio Spurs on December 15. But Earl Watson and his Suns are now 8-20, and have a one-game advantage over the Dallas Mavericks for worst record in the Western Conference.

So if you’re James Harden coming to play this Phoenix team, then you’d probably be licking your chops.

Harden has been a monster this year, averaging a near triple-double with 27.8 PPG, 11.7 APG, and 8.1 RPG. It’s pretty safe to say that the transition to the point guard position was a good call by head coach Mike D’Antoni.

The 27-year old Arizona State product is playing like an early MVP candidate. He ripped the San Antonio defense a part last game when he dropped 31 despite shooting 1-11 from beyond the arc. It was his sixteenth double-double he’s recorded this season. Harden missed his seventh triple-double on the year by just three assists against the Spurs.

Harden seems to playing more team-oriented basketball since taking over the point guard role. Last year, Harden had a career-high in assists when he averaged 7.5 per game. This season through 29 games, The Beard dishes out 11.7 per game.

The same goes for rebounding, too. Last year he averaged 6.1, which was good for the best of his career. He’s now on pace to set another career-high statistic, as he’s totaling 8.1 boards per game in 2016.

Luckily for Harden, the Suns are among the worst teams in the league defensively. They rank 28th in the NBA for 113.1 points allowed per game. For a scoring machine like Harden, he should have a field day tonight.

The Suns will attempt to slow down Harden and the Rockets, but it will not be an easy task. The Rockets are playing really good basketball while the Suns aren’t.

He won’t be nice, but instead naughty tonight. The Beard should be dominant again against a defensively-weak team like the Suns.

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