James Harden Makes History with 54 Points VS Wizards

Houston Rockets guard James Harden contributed to NBA history with a season high 54 points on Monday night.

His Houston Rockets team eventually lost 135 – 131 in overtime to the Washington Wizards in a shootout of a game.

James Harden and Eric Gordon combined for the second most points scored by a starting backcourt in NBA history. Eric Gordon scored a season high 36 points to take the duo’s total to 90 on the night.

Only one starting backcourt has scored more than 90 points in a single game. That was in 2006, when Los Angeles Lakers duo Kobe Bryant and Smush Parker combined for 94 points.

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On that night, Kobe Bryant scored a career high 81, while Parker scored 13.

The Washington Wizards backcourt also scored at an elite level, helping set the NBA scoring record for two backcourts.

John Wall scored a season high 36 points while Bradley Beal scored a season-tying 32 points. All together, both backcourts scored an NBA-best 158 points.

“You watched a lot of high-level players play at a high level,” Washington coach Scott Brooks said. “Amazing players all had great games.”

The previous record of 140 was set two years ago during a Portland Trail Blazers match against the Toronto Raptors.

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James Harden scored 31 of his points after halftime. As well as that, he had 13 assists. It was a big performance from both him and Gordon in the absence of Chris Paul.

“I tried to be aggressive with Chris out,” Harden said. “At the same time, I tried to get guys involved and get guys in position to score.”

Gordon in particular has flourished while filling in for Paul. The last two games have seen his two best scoring games of the season.