Eric Gordon will attempt to repeat as the Sixth Man of the Year

With the return of Chris Paul, Eric Gordon has assumed his normal bench role. Can he win the Sixth Man of the Year Award again?

Eric Gordon is having himself one heck of a season.

The 10-year pro is averaging 21.5 points per game, his highest mark since the 2010-11 season. Gordon is also averaging a career high 3.5 made 3-pointers per game, which is tied for fourth in the NBA. And lastly, Eric Gordon is averaging 5.6 free throw attempts per game, his highest average since the 2011-12 season. This season, Gordon has been a more aggressive scorer in the paint, and that has made him much more difficult to defend.

The increase in Eric Gordon’s numbers is likely correlated with the absence of Chris Paul. Now that CP3 is back, Gordon’s shot attempts will probably fall in line with last year’s numbers.

Gordon has returned to his usual sixth man role, and that makes for a much deeper Rockets bench. It also gives Gordon the chance to pursue another Sixth Man of the Year Award, an opportunity that he is well aware of, via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“Yeah, yeah, I definitely have my chance. It’s all about this team being successful and me continuing to play the way I am. Then, I’ll definitely have that chance.”

Gordon, along with the rest of the team, will have to adjust to Chris Paul being back in the rotation, via Jonathan Feigen.

“It’s going to go back to what we did in the preseason, trying to get more and more open shots. My mentality doesn’t change as far as being in attack mode all the time and doing what it takes to help this team win. Our second unit should be even better. It’s going to be an adjustment as he comes back, but at the end of the day, we should be a better and deeper team.”

The Rockets bench has played fairly well throughout the season, but now we’ll see it at full strength with Eric Gordon leading the charge. The Rockets need Eric Gordon to be that spark plug that can enter a game and score at will.

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Gordon had to play a little point guard for the Rockets whenever Harden was resting, and that took him out of his element a bit. EG is putting up big numbers, but his 3-point percentage is the lowest its been since the 2011-2012 season. Now that Gordon will share the floor with either Paul or James Harden at all times, we should see an increase in his efficiency.