You could tell this was going to be a special night for Rockets guard James Harden when he had 27 points at the end of the first quarter. He then set a Spurs opponent record with 37 points in the first half alone, on his way to a career night.
Harden scored 61 points in the Rockets' 111-105 win over the Spurs on Friday night, tying his own franchise record he set in January against the New York Knicks. He also joined Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the only players in NBA history to score 60 or more points in multiple games during a single season.
This gives Harden a total of 118 points over his last two games, after he dropped 57 in a loss to the Grizzlies on Wednesday. Harden's scoring exploits this season have been absolutely unreal, as he entered Friday averaging 36.1 points per game. This is the eighth time this season that Harden has scored 50 or more points, and the sixth time he's scored 57 or more -- even more impressive when you look at the totals for some of the best scorers in league history.
Games with 57 or more points in their entire CAREERS:
LeBron James: 2
Allen Iverson: 2
Melo: 1
Larry Bird: 1
Shaq: 1
Jerry West: 1
Oscar Robertson: zero
Kevin Durant: zero
Steph Curry: zero
Games with 57+ points THIS SEASON:
James Harden: 6
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) March 23, 2019
Giannis Antetokounmpo is probably the MVP front-runner at this point, but performances like this are going to make it hard for voters not to consider Harden for his second straight MVP award. After a horrendous start to the season, the Rockets have surged in the Western Conference standings thanks in large part to Harden's offensive dominance.
After Friday's win, the Rockets held sole possession of third place in the West -- not somewhere we thought they would be just a couple of months ago.
