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James Harden

James Harden extends 30-point scoring streak to 25 games with acrobatic late 3-pointer

Jace Evans
USA TODAY

James Harden's historic streak of scoring at least 30 points was on the ropes, but he managed to extend it to 25 games Friday night. Barely. 

With just over a minute to play in the Houston Rockets' blowout road loss to the Denver Nuggets, Harden nailed an acrobatic 3-pointer that landed him at exactly 30 points for the game. While having little impact on the contest, Harden's basket pulled him into a tie with the legendary Wilt Chamberlain for the third-longest streak of 30-point games in NBA history. 

It should be noted that Chamberlain is also first and second on the list, the former being a record 65-game streak in the Hall of Famer's legendary 1961-62 season. 

Harden finished Friday's game 9-for-21 from the field, including 7-of-14 from 3-point range. He surprisingly missed four free throws on nine attempts. "Some of (his shots) went in, some of them didn’t,” Harden said. “That’s basketball.”

While Harden still got his 30 points, it was a tough game for the Rockets (29-22). In a battle of top Western Conference contenders, the Nuggets (36-15) shot a blistering 62 percent from the field in running away to a 136-122 victory.

James Harden's historic scoring streak:Inside the eye-popping numbers

Harden continuing his historic run was outshined Friday by Denver big man Nikola Jokic, who fell just shy of a triple-double with a 31-13-9 line and was greeted by chants of "MVP" from the hometown crowd late in the game. 

While the Nuggets' Torrey Craig, who himself scored a career-high 22 points, admitted he was trying to end Harden's streak, he added that "(Harden is) a great player, obviously one of the best scorers in the league, so to hold him to 30 after the way he’s playing, and we get the win, I’m not too disappointed."

The Nuggets' victory was their first over the Rockets since December 2015. 

The reigning MVP Harden entered Friday's game averaging 36.3 points per game. Should he keep that pace the rest of the season, Harden will have the highest scoring average since Michael Jordan dropped an astounding 37.1 points per game in 1986-87. 

Contributing: Associated Press 

 

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