Houston Rockets moment #14: Harden’s scoring surge in big comeback
This is one of Harden’s more overlooked performances, possibly due to its relative recency, or perhaps due to the victory not being of significant consequence. Whatever the reason, this game shows the incredible lengths Harden has gone to secure wins for the Rockets.
The 28th day in February of 2019 saw the Rockets on the second night of a back-to-back, a tough situation for athletes as active as NBA players are to perform through. And in the third quarter, it looked like the effects of that situation were taking their toll on the Rockets, as they were down by 21 points.
This seemingly did not matter to the machine that is James Harden, as he had 24 points by the half and dropped 17 more in each the third and fourth quarters to help the Rockets edge out a victory. He would finish the night with a whopping 58 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and a block on efficient shooting percentages of 50 percent from the floor, 44.4 percent from behind the arc, and a perfect 18-18 (!) from the free-throw line.
For the vast majority of players in NBA history, this would be number one on their list of career moments by leaps and bounds. But for James Harden, this was just another day at the office, carrying his team to victory on video game-type numbers.
Next: No. 13