How far can James Harden carry the Houston Rockets?

Often, a player’s landmark season is contextualized by grouping them into a distinguished tier. It is the easiest way writers — myself included — convey the rarified level a guy is producing at. To do so, thresholds must be established, sometimes arbitrarily bent, and there is a narrow window through which a player’s numbers look historic. But for James Harden, there is no need to pinpoint selective ways his averages and recent stretch are exclusive. At seemingly every turn, his output is that of basketball lore.

Through 35 games, Harden is generating 33.7 points, 8.5 assists and 5.9 rebounds on 61.8 percent true shooting. Trim those down considerably, to 30 points, seven assists and five rebounds on 60 percent true shooting, and three others have emulated those marks on a per-75-possession scale — roughly equivalent to per-game averages — for a season: Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Inch closer toward his actual stats (33-8-5 on 57 percent true shooting) and Harden is a soloist, trumpeting through one of the greatest offensive campaigns the league has ever witnessed.

Of the many remarkable feats, Harden’s status as a one-man, must-see spectacle sits near the top. He is the lone perimeter shot creator on a team, who as recently as last season, fielded a guard rotation blitzing its way to the edge of a title.

Chris Paul has missed 12 games and regressed as a scorer (a second-lowest true shooting percentage of his career at 54.4), defender and facilitator (career-high turnover percentage). Eric Gordon couldn’t punt a beach ball into the ocean if he were standing in it ankle deep, ranking 73rd in true shooting percentage (49.8) among 79 players attempting 12-plus shots per game this season.

Since dropping to 11-14 and 14th in the West, the Rockets have vaulted to fifth behind an 11-2 stretch with Harden averaging 39.9 points, 8.8 assists and 6.5 rebounds on 62.6 percent true shooting. For seven of those games, he has been without Paul; the past three, both Paul and Gordon have been sidelined. Before, their presence lessened some of the pressure and attention. At times, they were still capable release valves who held defenses accountable. Now, the occasional Austin Rivers 3 or pick-and-roll are almost all that Harden can lean on.

The Bearded One has redefined the value of 3-point shooting, jacking 12.4 long bombs a night. Curry is the only other player in history to exceed 11 per game. But the difference is that his two seasons doing so (2015-16 and 2018-19) feature 6.3 and 4.5 pull-up 3s each contest. Harden, by contrast, is at 11.5, converting 38.9 percent of them. In fact, nobody, not even Curry, has hoisted 11.5 3s per game — pull-up and catch-and-shoot combined — for a season. That is the thumbprint of a pioneer and potentially revolutionary mode of shooting.

While Curry’s dribbling exhibitions always present an imminent danger, his perpetual off-ball motion signals he can strike through various mediums. Rarely does Harden take catch-and-shoot treys (8 of 27 this year). His repertoire is founded and reliant on off-the-bounce juice. It is an unguardable play, one where the defense is left watching, longing for the basketball gods to smile down on them. The stepback 3 is hopelessly predictable and entirely devastating.

Curry always has a certain jittery, vivacious aura to his daggers. Harden operates with the urgency of hammock-residing dad, swaying back and forth on a sunny afternoon — and then, suddenly, the lethality of a cobra:

Because those jumpers are so deadly and frequent — volume primarily shapes their weaponry — defenders are constantly forced into press coverage against him. It is in those moments, when opponents lurk too close and compromise their positioning, that Harden pounces. He is prancing the lane for league-high 19.3 drives per game, the magnet fueling his divisive foul-drawing tendencies.

Slide over late and Harden shifts weight to initiate contact, prompting a call. Lose focus for a moment, instinctively drop a limb into his airspace and fate has been sealed. He sticks the ball out, away from his body, daring the opposition to bite. Any slight hip check, graze of the wrist or clamp of the arm is announced to the arena via pageantry. To stop Harden is to win a game of Operation: precision is the only outlet to success.

Harden is not just a crafty scorer and shooting. Labeling him as such would ignore that he’s nearly impossible to stay in front of and even if you can, he possesses rare strength for a guard —the characteristic that makes him a stingy post defender — enabling him to bulldoze to his spots. Generally, fouling is the best antidote.

A fusion of length, astute rotations and disciplined on-ball defense are his kryptonite but demanding that combo for an entire game or series is the NBA’s white whale. Only fatigue has curbed him to this point.

If that 39 percent usage rate holds all year, he will complete the seventh season ever above 37 percent and finish with the second-highest clip, trailing Russell Westbrook’s 41.7 percent. The differentiating factor is Harden’s elite efficiency. Nobody else posted a true shooting mark north of 56.2 percent. Currently, he’s at 61.8 percent. Even with the gassed-up offensive era, Harden is 5.8 points better than league-average (56 percent). In the other six seasons — Westbrook (2x), Jordan (2x), Kobe Bryant (1x) and Allen Iverson (1x) — none were ever 2.3 points higher than average.

His peers, though, have already walked through the door of that class. Harden has yet to even reach the halfway mark of the season. After a 36.1 percent usage in 2017-18, he wore down by the Western Conference Finals and didn’t quite resemble MVP form. Is the path sustainable? Can he continue to backpack this workload without his shooting cratering?

Expecting him to continue churning out 40-point triple-doubles on elite efficiency is code for disappointment. But working in Harden’s favor is a methodical essence. Among the 309 players getting at least 15 minutes a night, he is 305th in pace. He whittles down the shot clock, the ball swirling through his palms and legs. Actions are decisive, avoiding superfluous movements. There is no requirement to chart screens or make cuts to the rim. Harden does not have to cater to the scheme because he is the scheme. When he gives the ball up, it’s either to stand idly by or to regain his dribble and spark more magic.

On the other end, he isn’t wired to hound ball-handlers, feverishly chase guys around picks or execute every read in help position. He is a capable but discretionary defender, often skirting responsibilities with eyes toward the greater goal at hand. That is the product of a generational burden. Exerting the type of effort other 6-foot-5 guards with a 6-foot-11 wingspan do would jeopardize his holistic impact. As such, the probability of maintaining a 33.7-8.6-5.9 line perks up.

According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Harden increased his training regimen after the Rockets’ mundane start.

“Harden comes in early to do extra lifting. He runs the arena stairs before video sessions. On game days, he has added a morning session of treatment and stretching,” Feigen wrote. “And when each practice ends, Harden joins teammates Gerald Green, Danuel House Jr. and P.J. Tucker for one-on-one battles, sparring sessions in which the sparring partners hit back.”

Newfound conditioning, an extra gear to extend this play deep into the postseason, inspires hope that these 35 games have staying power. The shortlist for 2018-19 MVP does not necessarily begin and end with last year’s winner but it undoubtedly includes him. A month ago, that wasn’t true. Maybe, when people look back at this lone ranger season and attempt to summarize it, they’ll simply point to the second MVP trophy resting on his mantle.

*All stats current through Jan. 6