Volume 5: Unrivaled

When There Is Harden, Why Is There Curry? In the 2009 draft, Harden was the third overall pick and Curry was the second. After entering the league, Harden became the Thunder's Sixth Man while Curry became the Warriors' core, and the gap between them only grew wider. When there was Harden, why was there Curry? The Warriors were still first in the West, the Celtics were still first in the East, and the Rockets were still second in the West. The Bulls trailed the Celtics by six games but still reached 60 wins, making this season another occasion in twenty years with four 60-win teams. Harden ranked second in scoring and third in assists, while Curry ranked first in both scoring and assists. Second place in the East changed from the Cavaliers to the Bulls, third became the Raptors, and the Cavaliers fell to fourth. Fifth through eighth were the 76ers, Pacers, Heat, and Wizards. The difference was that the Celtics went 66-16, while the Rockets went 65-17, only a hair behind the Warriors. So Curry had cut loose this season. Fans of every team, especially Celtics and Rockets fans, genuinely saw hope of contending for the title. Even fans of the Bulls, Thunder, and Cavaliers, who had all been swept by the Warriors in the regular season, did not believe their teams had no chance of winning it all; it was simply harder for them than for the top three. Therefore, everyone agreed that only Curry and Harden were qualified to contend for the final prize. O'Neal publicly stated on his show: After that, Harden welcomed Paul and finally had a reliable star teammate. He kept pushing forward, posting a franchise-record 65-17 record and leading the Rockets to another peak. At last, Harden got D'Antoni, evolved completely, and became