James Harden’s 15 greatest moments with the Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets moment #5. Career-high 61 in Madison Square Garden

Amazingly enough, this is not even the only time Harden has scored his career-high of 61 points in a game. He did it again later in the same year of 2019 against the Spurs, but this night in Madison Square Garden is the first time he did it. That combined with the 15 rebounds and five steals give this night the nod over the Spurs performance.

With 36 points in the first half alone, Rockets fans knew something special was likely to come from this particular game.

For a game where he scored such a ridiculous amount of points, Harden actually did not shoot the ball very well in this game, going 44.7 percent from the floor and 25 percent from beyond the arc. Of course, this hardly matters in a game where the player scored 61 points in a win.

What makes this game special is that Harden broke through yet another scoring possibility that even the most optimistic Rockets fans would not have predicted when he was first traded to Houston. That combined with tying the late Kobe Bryant for the most points scored in Madison Square Garden, a highly revered arena in NBA culture, make this an unforgettable chapter in Harden’s Houston career.

When all is said and done, scoring will be what Harden is remembered for most in his career, so the highest output of scoring he has ever demonstrated in the city of Houston was a no-brainer to include at such a high spot on this list.

Next: No. 4