James Harden entered the Philadelphia 76ers' Thursday night contest against the Memphis Grizzlies needing just 14 points to surpass Allen Iverson, who has 24,368 career points, for 31st on the NBA's all-time scoring list. A gifted scorer who's averaging 21.4 points on the season for the Sixers, surpassing Iverson tonight seemed like a formality. And a formality indeed it was.
With the Sixers down by 17, 56-39, late in the second quarter, Tobias Harris led the offense in transition. Harris found a trailing Harden for an open triple and The Beard nailed the shot for his 13th, 14th, and 15th points of the night. In the process, Harden surpassed Iverson in the NBA's scoring totem pole, having tallied 24,370 points through 14 seasons in the league.
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 24, 2023
Taking into account James Harden's scoring average this season, it may take him around six more games to surpass the next player on the all-time scoring list, Ray Allen, who has 24,505 career points.
For Allen Iverson, it's not too difficult to envision him having scored more points for his career than 24,368 had he managed to stave off his precipitous decline in the late 2000s. Alas, Iverson fell off a cliff during the 2008-09 season, and he was out of the league by 2010.
While James Harden should be proud of his achievement, nabbing a win against the pesky Grizzlies will be his most pressing priority at the moment. At the time of writing, the Grizzlies have an eight-point lead over the Sixers despite Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.'s shooting struggles from the field.
Perhaps Harden could use his perceived All-Star snub to fuel a strong end to his and the Sixers' 2022-23 campaign as The Beard continues to climb the NBA's scoring ladder.
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