Harden fires 56 pts, lifts Rockets over Jazz
HOUSTON – James Harden had just scored a career-high 56 points when he was asked if he knew he had fallen one point shy of the Houston Rockets’ record.
Harden shrugged and replied, “We won, right?”
And they did it with Harden only playing 35 minutes in a 137-110 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night that ran their Western Conference-best record to 8-3.
Harden fell just shy of Calvin Murphy’s 57 points against New Jersey in 1978, but he joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to have 10 assists and shoot better than 75 percent from the field in a 50-point performance.
Harden had 13 assists and shot a sizzling 76 percent from the floor, hitting 19 of 25 shots after missing his last three attempts. The MVP runner-up was a perfect 7 for 7 from beyond the arc until he missed a step-back 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter as the shot clock was about to expire.
Elsewhere, Atlanta stunned Cleveland, 117-115; Miami edged the Los Angeles Clippers, 104-101; Boston thumped Orlando, 104-88; Washington downed Toronto, 107-96; San Antonio routed Phoenix, 112-95; New York turned back Indiana, 108-101; Minnesota whipped Charlotte, 112-94; Portland repulsed Oklahoma, 103-99; and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Memphis Grizzlies, 107-102.
Back in Houston, even when the Jazz could deny Harden his shot, he dished it off for someone else to score. Eric Gordon scored 20 points, Trevor Ariza had 14 and Nene scored 13 off the bench.
“That was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen,” Gordon said. “He was picking them apart and not just with scoring. What else can you do?”
Ariza had the answer to that: nothing.
“I don’t think there’s any defense for him, period,” Ariza said. “When he’s on, what can you do? Two people can’t guard him when he’s on like that.”
Harden received a standing ovation from the Toyota Center crowd, which rained down “MVP! MVP!” chants at multiple points during the game. He had 22 points in both the first and third quarters, 30 at halftime and sat for the final 7:32 of the blowout.
Harden said he was unaware he was 8 for 8 in the first quarter and made his first 10 shots to start the game.
“I mean, I was just shooting, I don’t really know,” Harden said. “I don’t pay too much attention to it.”
Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 17 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Rudy Gobert had 13 points but was held to a season-low five rebounds in 25 minutes.
The Rockets have won three straight, while the Jazz have lost back-to-back games following a three-game winning streak.
Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder called Harden one of the smartest players in the league.