The Rockets split a pair of road games and dominated at home last week to post a 2-1 record. They are now 26-12 on the season which puts them in fourth place, just a half game behind second. Dating back to games played on December 16th, Houston has the fourth-highest winning percentage (.750; 9-3 mark) in the NBA.
On Wednesday in Atlanta, history was made when two players in the same game recorded 40-point triple-doubles for the first time in NBA history. James Harden (41 PTS, 10 REB, 10 AST) led the Rockets to the win over Trae Young (42 PTS, 13 REB, 10 AST) and the Hawks.
The Rockets fell flat for Russell Westbrook's return to Oklahoma City but Westbrook was given a warm reception by the normally hostile crowd and put on a show with 34 points in the loss. Dating back to December 7, Westbrook ranks third in the NBA in scoring with 28.4 ppg. He has scored 30+ points seven times this season. Aside from James Harden, Westbrook has the most 30-point games in a single season by a Rocket since Kevin Martin had 20 in 2010-11.
On Saturday night, the Rockets atoned for the loss in OKC with a dominant home win vs. Minnesota which was punctuated by a history-making performance from James Harden. The Beard became the seventh youngest player and 45th player in NBA history to record 20,000 career points. He is leading the NBA in scoring with 37.7 ppg and holds a margin of almost 8 points over the second leading scorer (Giannis Antetokounmpo, 29.8 ppg). Harden's scoring average is even more impressive when considering that minus the 15 games he has scored 40+ points this season (Rockets 14-1 mark), he would still lead the league in scoring with 30.7 ppg.
Both the Rockets and their opponents are shooting 45.5% from the floor this season. The last time Houston had a higher field goal percentage than its opponents for a season was in 2014-15 when the Rockets won the Southwest division and earned a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
Next up for the Rockets is a road/home back-to-back at Memphis on Tuesday and home against Portland on Wednesday before a Saturday night showdown at Toyota Center with the Los Angeles Lakers who currently sit in first place in the West.