James Harden Scores Career-High 51 vs. Kings: Highlights and Twitter Reaction
Not that James Harden was lacking for MVP-worthy moments, but the Houston Rockets star added another to his resume Wednesday night, scoring a career-high 51 points in a 115-111 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Offensively dominant from the outset, Harden knocked down eight three-pointers and was pure on 11 of his 13 of his free-throw attempts.
Trevor Ariza added 22 points, and Terrence Jones had 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven blocks, but otherwise it was all Harden all the time.
The All-Star guard is the first player in Rockets history to score 50 points twice in the same season, per Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. He scored 50 points in a March 19 win over the Denver Nuggets and has topped the 40 mark nine times overall this season. This is the 10th time in Rockets franchise history a player has scored 50 points or more, with Harden joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes and Moses Malone as the players to do so multiple times, per Basketball-Reference.
Starting the game out hot, Harden scored 16 points as part of a 35-point first quarter that built Houston's lead. He had 24 by halftime and appeared to be on his way to a merely pretty good game before exploding for another 17 points in the third quarter. With the Kings still generally keeping the game within striking distance, Harden closed it out by scoring 10 of the Rockets' final 18 points.
On the other side, DeMarcus Cousins finished with 24 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists to grab his second career triple-double. Seven different Kings scored in double figures as they put on a surprisingly stout offensive performance without Rudy Gay and Darren Collison.
But it was of little consequence with Harden continuing the best season of his career. Propping the Rockets up all season despite injuries ravaging the roster, Harden is by far Stephen Curry's best competition for MVP honors. The two should ultimately wind up No. 1 and No. 2 on every ballot, with apologies to Russell Westbrook and LeBron James, who have been great but missed extended time.
Harden has the Rockets on the cusp of a No. 2 seed in the Western Conference despite the fact they're starting Joey Dorsey at center and gave a combined 48 minutes to Pablo Prigioni and Jason Terry at point guard. Add in scoring outbursts like this, and it's no wonder people have called him basketball's most irreplaceable player.
A night after Curry put Chris Paul on his back and arguably seized the throne, Harden fired a shot back Wednesday. It's going to be a fun last couple of weeks deciding this MVP race.
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