Harden is averaging 9.8 assists and CP3 is averaging 10.2 assists. Has there ever been a time when two players from the same team averaged double digit assists for a season. Has there ever been a duo that was even close?
Good question. Magic and Norm Nixon had a few years where they both were over 8 per game. I don’t recall two teammates averaging over 10, or even over 9.
[delete: absolute user error on my part lol] Barring injury, it's safe to say we are going to witness something never seen before.
Definitely very possible for it to happen this year. Harden should take roughly 30 minutes to get 10 assists on average, simply because a lot of his focus will be towards scoring as well. Chris Paul on the other hand looks like he can get 10+ assists in 20 minutes. He is not having any trouble at all picking up assists in his limited playing time. Best part of all this is Chris Paul is a balanced/safe option in terms of playmaking. He can create plays whilst protecting the ball. If Harden is turning the ball over a lot the team can rely on Chris Paul to safely run the offense.
I doubt very much either player will average 10 assists this season, assuming they play most of the remaining games together. If I had to guess, Paul over 9 and Harden around the 8 range seems most likely.
The closest it's probably been, was in 83/84 season. John Lucas averaged 10.7 (63 games) & Johnny Moore 9.6 (59 games) assists per game for Spurs. After that season John Lucas returned to Rockets.
Did not show up on my qualifier list. Will have to relook it up. Most likely a user error on my part. Thanks durvasa
Nice. One difference there is they weren't both starters in that lineup, so their floor time together was minimized. The extent to which D'Antoni staggers Harden's and Paul's minutes will determine whether they can both keep their assists per game close to 10.
It's really hard for chasing assists to be a negative thing unless they are passing up open looks and run out the shot clock.
I just looked up that season. Neither one of them played more than 30 minutes and they only won 37 games. Talk about not playing defense at all.
I think they'll both definitely stay above 9, which is great. We are only averaging 22.8 assists (11th in NBA). We should be above 25 and with this duo producing 18, we need the other 6 players to produce 7 or more. If Paul and Harden move well off the ball, it should be possible.
Yup, just play. Don't pass up a shot just to get an assist when the game is on the line. If they do what's best for the team then I'm game.
It'll be tough. In the five games that they've played together, James has averaged 8.8 APG (35.1 MPG). He was averaging 10.2 APG (36.3 MPG) without Chris.
I don’t view anything in terms of staggering minutes. Since MDA plans to have one on the court at all times, I just view it as Paul plays by himself for ~12-14 mpg. What can hurt this is Garbage Time blowouts, when they both sit. Since Paul starts the 4th and Harden doesn’t come in until the 8 or 7 minute mark, there will be games where JH doesn’t actually even play any in the 4th, or very little
