Three key takeaways from the Rockets' 2016-17 regular season:
1. When Mike D'Antoni told James Harden of his plan to switch the Rockets star from de facto to designated point guard, he added a bold prediction and in a way, a challenge. He said Harden could double last season's assists average. Harden returned to Los Angeles and told a few buddies that D'Antoni thought he would average 15 assists per game. They naturally thought D'Antoni was nuts, but Harden went through that day's workout and pick-up game imagining his new responsibilities and possibilities. There is a great deal about D'Antoni's offense that makes it work, from the ways it creates spacing that makes it difficult if not impossible for a defense to take away every option to the shooters that helped set records for 3-pointers taken and made.