James Harden scored 50 points on Thursday and it felt totally normal. In a 118-108 win against the Nuggets, Harden shot 12-27 while hitting 22-25 from the free throw line to set his new career high.
NBA scores 2015: James Harden scored 50 and 3 other things we learned
Harden’s incredible season continued when he made scoring 50 points look way too easy.
There was never an eye-popping flurry of made shots or an incredible heat check that went down (until the very end, at least) -- it just felt like Harden was playing the same type of game he always does. Maybe it was the slew of fouls, maybe it was the constant double digit lead Houston held for the entire second half, maybe it was that the attention of the sporting world was focused on a wild opening day of the NCAA Tournament. Regardless, Houston kept giving him the ball and Denver kept fouling him. That's all he needed.
Harden's locked into an incredible MVP race this year, and this game will surely strengthen his case. But let's not make this about that. There's about a month left in the NBA season and we can decide which of Harden, Stephen Curry, LeBron James or Russell Westbrook most deserve the honor when we get there.
Until then, it’s worth recognizing the ridiculous things they all do on a regular basis. After all, bickering over four worthy candidates leaves less room for appreciation. Not everyone will like Harden’s parade to the stripe, even though he’s practically turned it into an art form, and that’s fine. It can be tedious to watch 25 free throw attempts from a single player. But don’t say that’s all there is to Harden’s game anymore. This 3-pointer he hit to reach the half century mark shows his casual, every day absurdity.
Harden also finished his night with 10 rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes. Every time the Nuggets threatened a comeback, he shut that idea down. This incredible game didn’t look much different from any other one as it played out on Thursday, but that tells the story of his entire season. All we know is that the final month of this MVP race will be incredible.
3 other things we learned
The Knicks briefly forget how to tank and then remember just in time. Shane Larkin really should have known better than to hit a game-tying jump shot with seconds left in the game, doing a disservice to the Knicks' attempts to earn a top pick and to NBA fans watching everywhere. Fortunately, an Alexey Shved turnover at the end of overtime returned balance to the world and Larkin was allowed to live after the game.
In all seriousness, the Timberwolves 95-92 win was the most entertaining game of the night. Perhaps that speaks to the terrible slate of matchups the NBA had on Thursday, but there was something masochistically entertaining about watching two young squads with little talent and a lot of energy go back and forth. It felt very much like the college games going on simultaneously, but with a better offense and a shot clock of reasonable length.
The players don’t try to lose, by the way. Regardless of whether you feel tanking is some atrocious black mark on the NBA or merely the cost of success, the Minnesota win was a clear reminder that tanking happens at a higher level than the players. All of the Knicks players were clearly trying to win the game, which is how they came back and forced overtime to start with. Tanking weakens the talent, but it does nothing to the competitiveness of the young men trying to get better and impress someone. Too often, this argument gets placed on their heads, and that isn’t fair to anyone involved.
The rest of the night was mediocre. The Suns beat the Pelicans, who were missing Anthony Davis with an ankle injury, and Gordon Hayward led Utah over the Lakers to make the Jazz winners of 14 of their last 18 games. Instead of dwelling on those (although hot damn, Utah, where did this come from!?), go check out of SB Nation's coverage of a wonderful day of amateur basketball played in the NCAA Tournament.
Play of the Night
The real Play of the Night is Harden's 3-pointer that gave him 50, but since I used that above, here's a Vine of his "mom, you're embarrassing me" face when Patrick Beverley interrupts his interview and calls him MVP.
A fun things
Damian Lillard stuck a proverbial dagger into someone's heart. For once, it was off the court.
Final scores
Timberwolves 105, Knicks 102 (Canis Hoopus recap | Posting and Toasting recap)
Rockets 118, Nuggets 108 (The Dream Shake recap | Denver Stiffs recap)
Suns 74, Pelicans 72 (Bright Side of the Sun recap | The Bird Writes recap)
Jazz 80, Lakers 73 (SLC Dunk recap | Silver Screen & Roll recap)
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