Harden Looking to Extend Streak of 40-Point Games to 3

Houston Rockets guard James Harden will be seeking his third consecutive 40-point game when the Rockets take on the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center on Wednesday night.

Harden previously scored 40 points in Tuesday's 127-118 win over the Phoenix Suns, after dropping a season-high 45 points in Sunday's 109-98 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Averaging an NBA-best 27.7 points on the season, Harden is the only player with six 40-point performances thus far, with Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook's four such games good for second place, per NBA.com/stats.

While always a prolific scorer, Harden had just five 40-point games coming into this season, meaning that he's more than doubled his career total before the All-Star break, per NBA.com/stats.

Harden and Westbrook are the only players to record consecutive 40-point outings this season, with Westbrook having done so just last week, per basketball-reference.com's play index.

The last player to post a streak of three 40-point games was New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, who accomplished the feat during April of the 2012-13 campaign, per basketball-reference.com's play index.

Whether he extends his own streak Wednesday night, Harden is shaping up as the early favorite in an MVP race that also includes Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James.