FanDuel NBA Daily: Fantasy basketball lineup for Nov. 29
Twenty games into the season, James Harden is a top FanDuel NBA performer while leading the league in both scoring and assists.
Only once in league history has a player led the NBA in both scoring and assists, except FanDuel NBA tournaments weren’t around to take advantage of the impressive statistical output.
Houston Rockets guard James Harden is leading the league in both scoring (31.7 points per game) and assists (9.8 per game) after 20 appearances.
Nate Archibald was the only player to close out the regular season as the NBA leader in both categories, as he averaged 34 points and 11.4 rebounds per game for the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in 1972-73.
Perhaps even more impressive for Archibald was the amount of time he spend on the floor during his historic season, with his 46 minutes a game also leading the league.
Archibald closed out the year with 3,681 minutes, the 10th-most in league history and the highest total of any point guard in league history. Only Wilt Chamberlain, John Havlicek and Elvin Hayes ever played more minutes in a single season.
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Harden is playing 10 fewer minutes a game than Archibald, with his 36 minutes a game tying Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday for the ninth-most in the league.
Seemingly each night Harden takes the floor, he finds a way to elevate his game. In his last outing, Monday against the Nets, Harden connected a season-high eight times from 3-point range as part of a 37-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist, two-steal and two-block performance.
The 117-103 victory marked the fifth victory in a row for the Rockets. Since Chris Paul returned, Harden is posting 34.4 points, 8.2 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.
Harden has become an even more effective scorer, shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 46.4 percent from 3-point range, both marks significantly higher than his shooting percentages for the season.
The 69 FanDuel NBA points Harden totaled Monday night marked the 10th time in the last 11 games he posted 50 or more fantasy points. Harden is leading all players in scoring and assists, so leaving him off a FanDuel NBA roster seems like a big mistake.