James Harden added to his prolific scoring reputation on Saturday. He led the Houston Rockets to a dominant 158-111 victory over the Atlanta Hawks through his 60-point performance.
🚀 4th career 60-point game
🚀 16-24 FGM
🚀 8 3PMIn three quarters of action, @JHarden13 attempts the lowest number of field goals in a 60-point performance in @NBAHistory! #OneMission pic.twitter.com/tOZ8Jm9E5n
— NBA (@NBA) December 1, 2019
Harden was so dominant in fact, he didn’t even play the fourth quarter, joining Kobe Bryant and Klay Thompson as the only players in the past 25 seasons to put up 60 points in just three quarters.
His 24 attempts are the lowest amount of attempts in a 60 point game in NBA history, the previous lowest came from Karl Malone (26 FGA, 61 points) on January 27, 1990.
Harden exited the game at the end of the third quarter, just one point shy of his career-high 61 points, which he set on Jan. 23 of this year against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. 61 is also the Rockets franchise record for points in a game, also set by Harden.
Following his incredible night, Harden is now averaging a league-leading 38.9 points per game while shooting 45% from the field. He is also averaging 7.8 assists and 5.9 rebounds.
The Rockets are now just a half-game behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the third seed in the Western Conference, and also lead the Denver Nuggets by half a game for the fourth seed in a crowded playoff hunt in the West.
Next up for Houston and Harden are the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
