Another 40-point game for James Harden. That makes 20 of them this season.
The reigning Most Valuable Player on Monday scored 44 points as the Houston Rockets beat Phoenix 118-110 to hand the Suns their season-worst 11th straight loss.
Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Rick Barry as the only players with 20 games of at least 40 points in the first 50 of a season.
Photo: AFP
Harden, who also had eight rebounds and six assists, extended his streak of games with at least 30 points to 27, third-longest in NBA history. The only longer streaks are 65 and 31 games, both by Chamberlain.
“I’m just trying to keep going. Nothing can slow me down,” Harden said. “Nothing can stop me. I’m trying to give that same motivation to my teammates and it’s not about scoring, it’s about attacking the game, being aggressive with the game of basketball — defensively, offensively. That’s all I can give to them.”
Chris Paul scored 18, while Kenneth Faried had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets, who were without two starters.
Photo: Joe Camporeale-USA Today
Josh Jackson scored 25 points, Kelly Oubre Jr 23 and Devin Booker 19 for the Suns.
Deandre Ayton added 15 points and 11 boards. Booker left in the fourth quarter with a tight hamstring.
The Suns never led, but stayed close through the first half before falling behind by 20 in the third quarter.
Phoenix cut it to single digits on several occasions in the fourth, only to be thwarted by a basket from Harden or Paul.
Harden scored 14 in the final quarter.
Up by six at halftime, the Rockets opened a big lead in the third quarter.
Harden sank a three-pointer from the corner and Faried dunked a rebound to cap a 13-4 run that put Houston up 84-68.
The Rockets boosted the lead to 20 three times in the quarter, the last at 94-74 on Paul’s two free throws with 1 minute, 2 seconds left, but the Suns finished the period on a 6-0 spurt as Oubre’s three-pointer at the buzzer cut the Rockets’ advantage to 94-80 entering the fourth.
The run reached 10-0 when Phoenix scored the first four of the final quarter, making it 94-84 on Oubre’s dunk with 10:57 to play.
Harden sank a pair of three-pointers in an 8-0 run and Houston led 101-88 with 7:05 remaining.
The Suns kept it close in the first half, despite Harden’s 22 points, five assists and five rebounds.
Harden scored inside twice to ignite a 9-2 spurt that put Houston up 50-42 on Paul’s wide-open three-pointer with 6:03 left in the half.
Austin Rivers’ three-pointer gave Houston their biggest lead of the half, 57-46, with 3:21 left.
The Rockets led 63-57 at the break.
The Suns tried a new defensive strategy on Harden and, overall results notwithstanding, it worked pretty well some of the time.
“James forces teams to do a coverage that you usually don’t do,” Booker said. “It was new for us, first time to do it... I feel we did pretty well, kept it close, [were] in striking distance most of the game.”
Also on Monday, it was:
‧ Pistons 129, Nuggets 103
‧ Kings 127, Spurs 112
‧ Hawks 137, Wizards 129
‧ Pacers 109, Pelicans 107
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