James Harden is not exactly lamenting the end of his impressive scoring run.
Harden on Monday had 28 points, snapping his 32-game streak with at least 30, as the Houston Rockets beat the Atlanta Hawks 119-111.
He is glad it is over, too — especially since he had no expectation of matching Wilt Chamberlain’s 65-game streak, the longest in NBA history.
Harden’s stretch with 30 or more points ranks second.
“Yeah I am. It was cool, but I knew I wasn’t going to get to No. 1,” Harden said before walking away chuckling.
Houston overcame a scoring outburst from Hawks rookie Trae Young, who set career highs with eight three-pointers and 36 points.
Harden returned after missing Saturday’s win over Golden State with a neck injury and missed all 10 three-pointers he attempted.
“This was the first time I was able to move it since a few days,” he said. “So it kind of felt good to go out there and just move it, and run around. I hadn’t really done any movement or working out. I’ve been in bed really.”
He got to 28 points with 23.3 seconds left and had the ball on Houston’s last possession, but did not attempt a shot from half court with the game in hand.
When asked if the injury affected his shot, he said: “I don’t care. Made shots, missed shots, we won the game.”
Harden last came up short of 30 points in a Dec. 11 last year win over Portland, when he had 29. During the streak, he scored 50 or more points four times, including a career-high 61 in a win at the Knicks on Jan. 23.
“Eventually it was going to have to end one of these days,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He’s unbelievable. He’ll start another one.”
Chris Paul added 20 points and Eric Gordon hit four three-pointers for 16 points.
Young said that he could not appreciate his big night since the Hawks came up short.
“For me, I’ve grown up with a dad who raised me that winning is the only thing that matters,” he said. “So for me, of course you want to play well, of course you want to do well in the game and help your team, but at the end of the day I don’t feel good about it.”
Also on Monday, it was:
‧ Suns 124, Heat 121
‧ Warriors 121, Hornets 110
‧ Nets 101, Spurs 85
‧ Pistons 113, Pacers 109
‧ Trail Blazers 123, Cavaliers 110
‧ Bucks 117, Bulls 106
‧ Grizzlies 110, Lakers 105
‧ Timberwolves 112, Kings 105
‧ 76ers 111, Pelicans 110
‧ Clippers 121, Mavericks 112
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