James Harden’s ankle injury a precursor to disappointing Rockets season

11:44 AM ET

Upon reflection about the Houston Rockets’ 2015-16 season, the early struggles of James Harden attributed to some problems.

Last summer, Harden, the do-everything shooting guard, severely sprained his ankle, causing him to not be in the best of shape when training camp started. Harden did not disclose how he injured his ankle.

“It messed me up,” Harden said after the Rockets’ season ended in a five-game series loss to the Golden State Warriors. “Just to start the season off I couldn’t work out like I wanted to and so I went into training camp with a bummed ankle, had to get healthy and had to kind of get in shape. It was just all of the above. It kind of messed me up — it kind of set me back a little bit so I couldn’t take care of my body and have a really good summer.”

Harden shot a dismal 22.2 percent from the field and 9.4 percent from 3-point range in the first three games of the season, when he averaged only 18 points.

As the season progressed, Harden’s game and health improved, and he finished the season averaging 29.0 points, 7.5 assists and 6.1 rebounds. The damage, however, …

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