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James Harden sitting at fourth place on the all-time leaderboard for most 50-point games makes plenty of sense. He’s been perhaps the NBA’s most dangerous one-on-one scorer for more than a decade now. He has three scoring titles. These are the traits one would expect out of a 50-point scorer.
What’s a bit more surprising, though, is that all 23 of his 50-point games came with the Houston Rockets — until Wednesday night.
He won Sixth Man of the Year for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but never scored 50 points in a game for them. The Brooklyn Nets surrendered seven years worth of first-round picks for him, but didn’t get a 50-point performance out of him either. Not even the Philadelphia 76ers, run by Harden’s Houston general manager Daryl Morey, could squeeze a 50-point effort out of him.
But now, the Los Angeles Clippers can say they’ve done so. On Wednesday, those Clippers, losers of six of their past seven entering the contest, needed an offensive explosion to survive the Detroit Pistons with Kawhi Leonard sidelined. Harden gave them one, scoring 50 on the dot to reach the milestone for the first time since December of 2019 and 24th time overall as the Clippers prevailed 123-115.
In typical Harden fashion, all of his points came at the free-throw line (16), in the paint (16) or from behind the arc (18). It was an effort the Clippers needed as they attempt to claw their way back into the top six in the Western Conference.
Harden one 50-point game away from tying Kobe
Given the more than five years that have passed since his last 50-piece, the odds of Harden scoring 50 again are unclear.
If he does manage to do so again, though, he’d tie Kobe Bryant for third place on the all-time NBA list with 25. That’s probably as high as he could realistically climb, as No. 2 Michael Jordan has 31 50-point games.
If by some miracle he reached Jordan, he’d be absolutely capped at No. 2. Why? Because Wilt Chamberlain scored 50 points in a game an astonishing 118 times, nearly four times as often as anyone else did. That’s what happens when you average 50 points per game for a whole season.
Whether he finishes fourth, third or second on the list, Harden’s credentials as an all-time scorer have long been cemented. Wednesday was just a cherry on top, a chance for him to show the basketball world that he’s still got it even at 35 years old.
