James Harden scored 60 points to reach the mark for the fourth time in his career, as the Houston Rockets steamrolled the visiting Atlanta Hawks 158-111 on Saturday night.
Harden made 16 of 24 field-goal attempts — the fewest ever in a 60-point game — including 8 of 14 from 3-point range, and connected on 20 of 23 free-throw attempts. He played just 31 minutes due to the one-sided contest and fell one point shy of his career high of 61, accomplished twice. Harden’s fourth 60-point outing ties for third in NBA history with Michael Jordan. Only Wilt Chamberlain (32) and Kobe Bryant (six) have more.
“That’s a great list right there. Those guys are something that I’m trying to get to,” Harden said in a postgame television interview. “Hopefully when it is all said and done, I can be mentioned in that group forever.”
Harden, who also had eight assists, became the fourth player to score 50 or more points on 20 occasions, trailing Chamberlain (118), Jordan (31) and Bryant (25).
