Gallery: 5/11
7. Houston
Record: 14-7
Last week: 8th
While he isn't averaging a triple-double like former teammate Russell Westbrook, James Harden has been incredibly good for the Rockets this season. In Monday's comeback win over Boston, "The Beard" finished with 37 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, with only 14 official field goal attempts. The best in the NBA at drawing contact for quite some time now, Harden shot 18-for-18 from the charity stripe against the Celtics. He's scoring and distributing at a high rate, and the other Rockets have taken to Mike D'Antoni's system as well. For all the conversation surrounding this team and whether they'd defend in the preseason, Houston's been one of the NBA's pleasant surprises thus far. (Getty)
