Houston Rockets star James Harden is still playing like a man possessed.
On Monday night during the Rockets' win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Harden racked up a season-high 57 points, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as the only NBA players to ever score 30 or more points in at least 17 straight games:
James Harden is the third player in NBA history to score 30 or more points in at least 17 straight games. The others are Wilt Chamberlain (who had four such streaks) and Elgin Baylor. pic.twitter.com/fum6ticL5G
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) January 15, 2019
That is absolutely insane, as was Harden's performance against the Grizzlies. He made 17 of his 33 shots, buried six three-pointers and went 17-of-18 from the free-throw line. In addition, he added nine assists.
During his inhuman 17-game stretch, Harden has scored 40-plus points 10 times, including a stretch of five consecutive 40-point games from Christmas Day through Jan. 3. Over that span, his best game was a 45-point outing in a win over the Boston Celtics on Dec. 27.
This month, the Rockets talent has put together four 40-point performances and is averaging 42 points, 9.7 assists, 8.4 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks over 38.3 minutes per game while shooting 42.2 percent from the floor, 35.3 percent from three-point range and 92 percent from the free-throw line.
The reigning MVP has also recorded double digits in free-throw attempts five games in a row, and in a 43-point outing in a win over Memphis back on Dec. 31, Harden got to the charity stripe 27 times.
On the year overall, the 29-year-old is leading the league with 34.8 points per game and is averaging 8.6 assists, 6.3 boards and 2.1 steals across 37.1 minutes a night while making 43.7 percent of his field-goal attempts, 37.9 percent of his three-point tries and 86.3 percent of his foul shots.
The Rockets star is also aiming for back-to-back scoring titles. Last season, he paced the NBA with 30.4 points per game.
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