The harden rule made him reinvent himself, that I am sure of. Like for one instance tonite, he still forces one three over connaghton thinking he would still can get the call like last year.
He's basically making about 1 more three a game on 2 more attempts a game from last year which puts him a little above 40%. I think it's just him getting more catch and shoot threes. He's been grading out in the 90th percentile in spot up threes for a few years now he just didn't get many. Hardens a good shooter he just takes some of the toughest shots in the game. His step back is better this year tho. Nobody in the league is shooting step back threes with Hardens volume or accuracy. He's in the league of his own and is the deadliest offensive player in the game by far. Even the Utah radio guy the other night said harden is one of the 5 best offensive players ever and his co-host paused for a second and said he agreed. Dude is making ppl believers this year. Not surprise though he has a star next to him and is in his prime at just 28. The fact that harden let us to the playoff every year and avg 25+ 5+ and 5+ on 60+ ts% since he was 23 is amazing. Guys been a top five MVP guy since he was a young pup. If you really look at his body of work with his wins/ playoffs success and numbers this really isn't a surprise we should have seen this coming.
I noticed tonight that he was clearly getting into the challenge when he got switched onto Lillard or McCollum and they went iso on him. That's the big change for me, he just hasn't gotten after it defensively like he is now ever in his career.
Physically in better shape, faster, more lightfooted. Last year he had trouble beating big men off the dribble, and he settled too much on his step-back jumpers. This year he is driving at will, leaving fools left and right. His explosiveness is back, he seems more confident (almost playful sometimes) in his driblling. And ofcourse he is shooting lights out.
Probably lost weight when he realized he'll need to play 2 extra months at the minutes he wants if he wants to win a championship. I think the biggest knock he'll have to work on is knowing when he needs rest so that he has the reserves when the teams get harder.
I'm not sure what is different. It's likely a factor of many of the things mentioned in this thread. But I just want to say this... in terms of instilling fear in the opponent in the biggest moments, James Harden is getting right up there. I was at the game tonight in Portland and every time Harden got in an isolation situation, you could just sense that the fans knew it was almost guaranteed points. I can only compare it to how I used to feel when Kobe would come into Toyota Center for big games. Everyone in the arena expects him to impose his will and be borderline unstoppable...and he continues to deliver.
Exactly he's just out there hoopin, not overthinking or hesitating. This is the first year here in Houston where he doesn't have to orchestrate every single damn play.
After the last few years hearing all the time, "But can he be a leader?" I haven't heard that at all this year. I think one of the biggest changes I see is that he isn't trying to fill that role this year. I always rolled my eyes when I'd see him grab some teammate during the game and sort of dress him down with some criticism. Now, with this much more veteran squad, he isn't spending time with that, and I think it frees him up to play more of a loose and free game. James has always been the type who needs to at least act like he feels laissez-faire about everything, but I think this year he really actually gets to feel that lower level of pressure he has pretended to feel the whole time.
More focused and scheduling. Harden the past 2 months shot around 89% on FT, his lesser category are down rebounds and assists. In Nov, the Rockets have been getting at least a day off, or two-three days off unlike Oct. with 2 back to backs and just 1 day off. Rest is doing Harden good, but mainly more determined to win games than win stats game (rebound averages are down 30%).
He explicitly worked on his step back 3 over the summer, and his numbers there have dramatically improved. I've heard reference to this a few times on pods or in articles, can't remember them all right now. Here's an article: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/11/29/16713562/james-harden-houston-rockets-chris-paul I think that's the biggest difference if you don't count Chris Paul. Obvious Paul has helped, but Harden was still next level great in the early stretch without Paul. They talk about it here, too: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/this-might-be-james-hardens-year/?addata=espn:frontpage