NBA awards West Player of the Week to Rockets’ James Harden

James Harden was named West Player of the Week after averaging 41 points and nine assists per game and leading the Rockets to a 3-0 record.

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The NBA on Monday announced Houston Rockets guard James Harden as the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, Nov. 4 through Sunday, Nov. 10 (Week 3).

It is Harden’s first Player of the Week award of the 2019-20 season and the 23rd of his career, all coming in Houston.

The Rockets went 3-0 on the week, outscoring their opponents by an average of 15.7 points per game. In those games, Harden averaged 40.7 points (43.6% shooting), 9.3 assists, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.3 steals in 36.1 minutes, with a double-double recorded in all three contests. The 30-year-old lefthander averaged 17 three-point attempts per game and connected on over 43% of those, despite the extreme volume.

In total, Harden hit 22 three-pointers on 43.1% shooting, while Rockets opponents combined for 20 three-pointers on 22.2% shooting.

For the season overall, Harden has scored 334 points in 318 minutes of play. That is the highest total through the first nine games of any NBA season since Michael Jordan scored 337 in 1988-89.

Harden has hit 39 three-pointers, marking the fourth-highest total by any player in NBA history through the first nine games of a season — and the most by any player besides Stephen Curry.

The Rockets are 6-3 this season, with Harden ranking first in the league in points (37.1) and sixth in assists (8.2). In the 2018-19 campaign, he became the first player in NBA history to have averaged at least 35.0 points and 7.0 assists in a single season.

The Eastern Conference Player of the Week was Toronto forward Pascal Siakam, who averaged 30.3 points (51.5% shooting), 11.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game in a 3-0 week for the Raptors.

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