James Harden Continues Historic Run With 4th Straight 40-point Game

James Harden with the Houston Rockets in 2016
James Harden with the Houston Rockets in 2016. Photo by Canadian Press/REX/Shutterstock (5613421g)

The Houston Rockets are playing their best basketball of the season right now, and they have James Harden to thank for the team’s current form.

Houston closed 2018 on New Years’ Eve with a 113-101 win at home over the Memphis Grizzlies, moving to 21-15 on the season. With the win, they moved into a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference.

The story of the night, however, was yet another magisterial performance by James Harden, the reigning NBA MVP.

Harden notched a triple-double against Memphis, scoring 43 points while dishing out 10 assists and grabbing 13 rebounds.

The 29-year-old superstar is on a historic run, as Monday’s game was the fourth consecutive time that he has scored 40 points in a game. Harden is the first player in Rockets franchise history to accomplish this feat.

Houston is currently on a 10-1 run dating back to December 11th. In these 11 games, Harden has put up superhuman numbers, averaging 39.7 points, 8.5 assists, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game. Not only is Harden the league’s most unstoppable player on offense right now, but his defensive contributions are also key for the Rockets.

Harden looks almost certain to be the favorite to win the 2019 NBA MVP Award, which would make him the first back-to-back Most Valuable Player since Steph Curry accomplished the feat back in 2015 and 2016.