Career Harden: The Beard’s 61 Points Send Rockets Past Spurs, 111-105
Sun Devil Pride. MVP Response. Harden Madness.
March Madness is officially under way. In college basketball, and the NBA. The best players use anything they can harness as motivation to fuel their game to greater heights. James Harden had a little extra motivation on Friday night. The Rockets were coming off one of the most disappointing, crushing losses of the season Wednesday night in Memphis. And only hours before Friday night’s game against the Spurs, Harden’s alma mater, the Arizona State Sun Devils, lost in the NCAA tournament. I thought Harden would respond with 50 points and remind the world ASU produced one of the greatest players of all time. The Beard didn’t get 50. Instead, he tied his career high with 61-points, setting the record for most points scored against Gregg Popovich’s Spurs by an opposing player. Harden fueled the Rockets to a comeback win in the fourth quarter, 111-105.
The Rockets led comfortably at the half by 15 points. However, San Antonio came out in the third quarter, outscoring Houston by 15, tying the game. Houston still can’t seem to hold onto large leads, at least consistently. The Spurs led by as many as 6 points in the final frame, before Harden and the Rockets were able to send San Antonio home with a defeat. Eric Gordon had 12 points, and quietly has consistently hit double-figures in every game since the All-Star break. Chris Paul had 18 points and Clint Capela had 16 boards to support the MVP as the Rockets came back late to secure the victory.
James Harden now has 118 points in his last 2 games, setting an NBA record for the most over points scored over 2 games in the last 50 years. The Beard now has 8 games this season in which he’s hit the 50-point mark. It’s also the second time this season Harden has had back-to-back games with at least 57 points. He’s the first and only player to do that since Wilt Chamberlain. Harden continues to play out of his mind. Houston has needed him to be the best player in the NBA all season. And the Beard has responded night-in and night-out with legendary performances. And he’s doing it unlike anyone else in the league.
Scoring is up in the NBA this season. But if it was so easy, why doesn’t anyone else in the NBA have more multiple consecutive 50-point games? 10 other players in the league have hit the 50-point mark this season, but each has done it only once. Harden’s done it 8 times. Naysayers will complain Harden takes too many shots, but Houston needs him to in order to win games. He took 34 on Friday, and made 19. Give a lot of these “other” top players 34 shots, against a tough Spurs defense, and I doubt they make more than 15. It’s harder than it looks. What Harden’s doing on the court. The Rockets now have 9 games remaining, with a trip to New Orleans on Sunday and then the MVP-frontrunner showdown in Milwaukee against Giannis and the Bucks on Tuesday. College basketball’s March Madness is under way. The NBA has their own form of madness, the NBA playoffs, which are only 3 weeks away. The way the Beard is playing, it could be Harden Madness come April when the postseason begins.