Houston Rockets guard James Harden reset the recent scoring record books last season and appears on pace to smash that mark again in 2019-20, as evidenced by yet another 60-point performance during Saturday's blowout victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
In the previous calendar year of regular-season games, Harden has delivered eight of the top 10 scoring outings, all of which have featured at least 57 points in a single game.
The ten highest-scoring games of 2019:
1. James Harden: 61
2. James Harden: 61
3. James Harden: 60
4. Damian Lillard: 60
5. Devin Booker: 59
6. James Harden: 59
7. James Harden: 58
8. James Harden: 58
9. James Harden: 57
10. James Harden: 57— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) December 1, 2019
That list does date back to the 2018-19 year as well, but Harden's scoring ability is impressive no matter the parameters. Just two of those contests came this season, as Harden did not even get to check in during the fourth quarter Saturday, in which he would almost have surely eclipsed his career high of 61 points, which he set on two previous occasions last season versus New York and San Antonio.
Damian Lillard is the only other player to hit the 60-point plateau in the span, having dropped 60 on the Brooklyn Nets back on Nov. 8 in a losing effort. Devin Booker's sterling 59-point effort came against the Utah Jazz back in March, although that scoring performance may have been stunted by the fact that Phoenix was walloped by 33 points.
There is still a month remaining of a full NBA slate for others to crack this list, although there are few in the league who have been able to score with the frequency that Harden has. Averaging 38.9 points per game across his first 19 contests, it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility that he could further increase those totals.
Follow Us
Subscribe