James Harden has secured an entry in the Houston Rockets’ history books. The bearded man scored 60 points against Orlando Magic, setting a new franchise record. Besides, the Shooting Guard scored the first triple double of the league history with at least 60 points.
No Chris Paul, no Trevor Ariza, no Eric Gordon. Even before the game, it was clear that James Harden would have to score a lot of points in order for Houston to win the game. Okay, the opponent’s name was Orlando, but the guests fought bravely. The Magic even won the first quarter and afterwards they didn’t let themselves be shaken off.
It took a magical evening of Harden to bring the Magic to its knees. Already at the break the beard had 24 points on the account, but without having sunk a single threesome. Of course, the bearded man was unable to sit back and poured five triples into Orlando in the second half with only seven attempts. Among them was the Dagger, when he scored a threesome with a foul at 109:107.
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Ultimately Harden scored the last 16 points for the rockets and set a new franchise record with 60 points (19/30 FG, 5/14 Dreier, 17/18 FT). This was previously held by the present Calvin Murphy with 57 points. By the way, Harden also grabbed 10 rebounds and distributed 11 assists. It was the first 60-point triple double in league history. Not even the great Wil Chamberlain managed this feat.
Despite a mischievous grin, Harden remained extremely modest after the game,”We needed this victory. He barely mentioned his 60 points, even though he portrayed Murphy as a legend. Instead, the focus was on the team:”We were in trouble, we had to deliver more. At only 19 points, Houston held the visitors in the fourth quarter.
After Harden, Clint Capela was second best scorer with 12 points and 13 rebounds. These honours went to Orlando Mario Henzonja and Marreese Speights with 17 points each.