HOUSTON – Eric Gordon signed a four-year deal with the Rockets prior to the 2016-17 season.
Then he went out and won the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
This season, you could make a reasonable argument he was even better.
Gordon, charged with leading the offensive charge with the second unit, scored 20.8 points per 36 minutes this season, up from 18.9 points per 36 minutes in his first Rockets season.
He posted the highest 2-point field goal percentage (54.4 percent) of his career and the highest true-shooting percentage (57.8 percent) since his rookie season in 2008-09.
Gordon was pressed into a starting role 30 times in 2017-18 after logging just 15 starts the year prior. He averaged 21.5 points per game in those 30 starts and the team went 20-10.
The shooting stroke for Gordon has been strong since the All-Star break. He’s made 43.5 percent of his 3-point attempts since the break, after connecting on just 33.4 percent prior.
Gordon, 29, is one of many seasoned veterans on this Rockets team, though last season was just the second time in his career he played in the postseason. He averaged 12.9 points per game in the Rockets' 11 playoff games last season.