Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden exploded for a career-high 50 points Thursday night in a 118-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
But the bigger story was how the MVP candidate reached the half-century mark, not that he simply achieved such an impressive number.
Harden was his typical self, slashing into the lane and drawing fouls. Yes, he received a few superstar calls along the way, but taking 25 shots from the charity stripe doesn’t happen on accident.
“He did an unbelievable job creating and getting to the free throw line,” Nuggets guard Randy Foye said, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Harden made 22 of those 25, which happened to be exact replicas of what his box score showed on Dec. 26, 2013, against the Memphis Grizzlies.
As @cosmis pointed out, James Harden made more free throws tonight (22) than Rajon Rondo has for the entire season (21).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 20, 2015
Instead of matching a 2-of-9 clip from the field and finishing with just 27 points similar to that 2013 night, however, Harden connected on 12 of his 27 looks. And that put the Rockets’ best player in a weird and remarkably exclusive club.
According to Basketball-Reference.com, Harden became just the third player in NBA history to record at least 50 points on 20 made free throws while registering a sub-50.0 field-goal percentage in a regulation game.
The other two, you ask? Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan.
I’ll give you a moment to return your facial expression back to its normal status.
Not only is Harden challenging Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook for the 2015 league MVP, he’s also planted himself alongside two of the NBA’s greatest volume shooters—forever.
The Rockets were supposed to beat the Nuggets. Harden was supposed to have a solid performance against an inferior opponent, and a 50-point outburst was the cherry on top.
But Harden went the extra mile. He put himself on Iverson and Jordan levels. How cool is that?
Photo: USA Today