Houston Rockets star guard James Harden has forged his name once again beside scoring greats Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to follow up a 60-point performance with a 50-point outburst.
In their heartbreaking double-overtime 135-133 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, Harden dropped 50 points on 11-of-38 shooting from the field, 4-of-20 from deep,and 24-of-24 from the free-throw line. He also had nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.
James Harden joins Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in @NBAHistory to follow a 60-point game with a 50-point performance. pic.twitter.com/zuvZvL1a0A
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 4, 2019
In the previous game — a 158-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks — Harden lighted up the scoreboards with 60 points (a point shy of his career-high) on 16-of-24 shooting, 8-of-14 from deep,and 20-of-23 from the free-throw line. He achieved this feat in just three quarters.
The former league MVP is averaging a league-leading 38.9 points per game. So far, this is the third-best season average in points in NBA history, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 50.36 points per game in the 1961-62 season and 44.83 points per game in the following season.
Though Harden is nowhere near the top 10 scoring leaders (he's currently in 56th place), some analysts have compared his scoring run to Michael Jordan, who is regarded as the greatest basketball player of all-time. If he keeps this up (which is likely), then Harden will be officially regarded as one of the greatest scorers in NBA history.
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