James Harden pulled off his fourth 50+ point game on Thursday to lead the Houston Rockets to a 126-111 win over the Los Angeles. With 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the same night, Harden set a new NBA record for the most triple-doubles with 50+ points in each game: four.
Wilt Chamberlain, Russell Westbrook, and Elgin Baylor are the other NBA players to have scored multiple triple-doubles that involve 50 points. Thursday was expected to be a big game for the two teams especially after the infamous fight between Rajon Rondo and Rockets’ Chris Paul at the beginning of the season.
The performance was Harden’s triple-double game this season and the 37th in his career, which is probably what led Paul to say the following.
“That’s crazy. I’ve never had a teammate that’s capable of doing that. That’s why he’s the reigning MVP,” he said. “You go to catch yourself, don’t get caught watching. We needed it tonight.”
In a night Lebron James and Kyle Kuzma were also involved, the Rockets had to fight for the win, clasping it in the final minutes. Fair game to them, the Rockets did need the win more than the Lakers. They are ranked 13th in the Western Conference. The Lakers are ranked fifth.
