James Harden has been flat-out unstoppable this season and the Lakers certainly weren’t stopping him on Wednesday night. He lit them up for 51 points on 15-of-27 (55.5 percent) shooting, including 30 in the first half.
James Harden was unstoppable on his way to 30 first half points
He scored 24 in the second quarter and finished with 51 on the night!
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Twenty-four of those 30 first-half points came in the second quarter alone.
Harden’s scoring barrage was of no avail. Houston fell to Los Angeles by six thanks to 38 points on seven threes from Kyle Kuzma. But this type of offense explosion has become of a normal occurrence for Harden.
Need proof: he’s got three 30-point scoring halves this season.
Harden’s first half against the Lakers, though, was especially impressive because of the way he did it.
Let’s break it down.
He only made two three-point attempts to get there
And they weren’t easy ones, either. They were both contested difficult threes with the clock winding down. And, if we’re being honest? He could’ve had foul calls on both.
He hit one over Josh Hart where he earned a four-point play.
The other was a tough stepback over Julius Randle’s seven-foot wingspan.
How do you stop that? You can’t.
He got to the free throw line a ton
Which is totally normal for Harden. He went 8-9 from the line and got to the rim at will. He’s so dangerous when the floor is spread and things are moving in transition.
You can get in front of him, but he’s so shifty that he’ll get you on his hip and draw the contact anyway. Drawing a few fouls in a half is difficult, but he drew nine and did most of it in one quarter. Free throw volume is normal for Harden, but this is insane.
And he cooked everyone in his way
It didn’t matter who you put on him — they were toast. The Lakers tried Josh Hart. He got completely turned around.
They tried Kyle Kuzma’s length, but what is he really supposed to do?
He got by Lonzo Ball. And when they tried to send help he just made the right play for the open man.
Don’t even get me started on what he did to Randle.
WHY DID THEY LET THAT HAPPEN TO RANDLE?
James Harden just isn’t fair. He makes every shot. He gets to the line. He makes perfect passes. There’s nothing he can’t do with or without the ball in his hands.
I count, at least, four Lakers defenders who had to learn that the hard way on Wednesday. Sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do. We’ve still got a few months left of basketball, but I think we’d be cool just handing Harden the trophy tonight.
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