James Harden vs. 76ers: Stats, Highlights, Twitter Reaction

As odd as it sounds, not many teams have had an answer for the Philadelphia 76ers of late. 

James Harden made sure that changed Friday night. 

In the Houston Rockets' 123-118 win over the Sixers at the Wells Fargo Center, Harden torched the process-trusters to the tune of 51 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds for his 14th triple-double of the 2016-17 campaign. 

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Harden is the first player in NBA history to record multiple 50-point triple-doubles in the same season. 

The Vertical's Michael Lee provided some more jaw-dropping context behind Friday's 51-point effort: 

Harden was most impressive when he dropped 19 points in the third quarter, and his scorching scoring stylings allowed the Rockets to keep the Sixers at arm's length even though Philly made repeated runs to cut into Houston's lead through the fourth, as Philadelphia Magazine's Derek Bodner observed: 

Harden also served as a passing savant to help Houston snap a two-game losing streak, and one of his prettier dimes came on a second-quarter lob to Sam Dekker: 

When he wasn't tossing alley-oops, Harden was slicing and dicing the Sixers defense in the pick-and-roll.

And while that may not seem like a significant achievement on the surface, Philadelphia entered Friday night with the NBA's top defensive rating in January (99.9 points allowed per 100 possessions). 

With Harden swishing and dishing at eye-popping rates again, NJ.com's Joe Giglio compared him to an even more prolific version of one of head coach Mike D'Antoni's former pupils: 

But as Hoop's Josh Eberley noted, Harden resides in a different statistical stratosphere compared to Nash: 

As those historically significant numbers indicate, Harden is in the midst of one of the most breathtaking individual seasons the NBA has ever seen.      

And if he keeps it up, an MVP award may be in his future. 

Postgame Reaction

Back in the locker room, Harden told reporters the crowd in Philadelphia gave him a little extra juice, as Fox Sports Radio's Zach Gelb documented on Twitter: 

During a separate part of the discussion, Harden broke down the tactical concepts that allowed him to erupt for 51 points, according to PennLive.com's Aaron Kasinitz: 

And while Harden entered Friday shooting 12-of-28 from the field over his past two games, he disclosed that he put in some extra effort behind the scenes to remedy those woes. 

"I had to just get back in the gym, putting extra shots up and getting my confidence back a little bit," he said, per the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen. 

Stats courtesy of NBA.com.