Houston Rockets guard James Harden was named today by the NBA as Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, Dec. 31 through Sunday, Jan. 6. It is his second such honor this season after winning West Player of the Week earlier this season for games played Oct. 30-Nov. 4. He becomes the first Houston player to receive multiple Player of the Week accolades in one season since Tracy McGrady back in 2007-08 (twice).

Harden (6-5, 220, Arizona State) led the Rockets to the NBA’s lone perfect record of the week at 4-0. He averaged 29.3 points (second in the conference), 3.25 steals (second in the conference) and 5.5 assists as Houston collected home victories over the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Hornets, as well as road victories over the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers. Harden also extended his streak of scoring 25 or more points to 12 consecutive games, which ties for the season longest such streak in Rockets history. In his last outing at Cleveland (1/5/13), Harden netted 16 (4-6 FG, 2-3 3FG, 6-7 FT) of his 29 points (14-15 FT) in the fourth quarter to lead Houston to a 112-104 victory. He also registered a career-best seven steals, including three in the fourth quarter.