3-pointers+James Harden = Second Best Record in NBA

3-pointers+James Harden = Second Best Record in NBA

By Dylan Webber

http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/wsc/teams/25183a51-8224-a2a0-b8cf-015b10e58e89

The Rockets do a lot of things well. There’s one thing that sits above the rest though, and it’s very clear when you watch them play — 3-pointers. That is seen very clearly in the video above.

Houston leads the league in 3-pointers made, and it isn’t even close. The Rockets have hit 825 total threes, 162 more than any other team in the league. And leading the charge for the 3-point slinging Rockets is James Harden. He sits atop the league in 3-pointers made at 186, about 3.5 per game. But, as the video shows, he can often go for more than that. The same goes for the Rockets team as a whole. At about 15.57 3-pointers a game, Houston can easily, on a good night, light a team up for even more.

This is the backbone of Houston’s offense, and basically the entire team. Without its 3-point production, they are nothing. Taking away the 3-point shot from Houston is like taking the wheels off of a car. Sure, it can move, but it gets literally almost nothing done. On an off-night from beyond the arc, the Rockets can still put up some points, but they likely can’t win the game. Especially if that cold-shooting carries through to other games, it can really throw them off, something that would be damaging through a seven-game series.

The Splash brothers in Golden State are generally the most recognized players for 3-point shooting in the NBA. They shouldn’t be though. While they have loads of talent, Houston and Harden, if the video above shows anything, are truly the people to be reckoned with from behind the arc.