2015 NBA scores: James Harden scores 40 in Rockets’ win over Suns

The Beard continues his MVP campaign, plus three other things we learned in the NBA on Tuesday night.

by Yaron Weitzman

Feb 11, 2015, 1:00 PM UTC

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

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NBA schedule and results. Harden leads Rockets over Suns, Bulls roll past Kings

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If you like very little defense, lots of scoring and a fast pace, the Suns-Rockets game on Tuesday was for you. The Rockets jumped out to an early 18-point lead and scored 70 points in the first half -- only to see the Suns, behind their three-point-guard lineup, climb back into the game. But, Houston just had too much. Too much skill, too much size, too much firepower and eventually walked off the court in Phoenix with a 127-118 victory.

With the win, their seventh in 10 games, the Rockets improved to 36-16 -- good for third place in the Western Conference. The Suns fell to 29-25 with the loss. They now have a one-game lead over the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

But the real story on Tuesday night was James Harden, who continued to improve his MVP résumé. Harden was magnificent, going for 40 points, 12 rebounds and finishing one assist shy of a triple-double. He connected on 13 of his 23 shots from the field and got to the foul line 14 times.

Any time the Rockets needed a basket, Harden was there. Sometimes it would come in the form of a sweet crossover and a drive to the hoop. Sometimes it would be a cross-court pass to a shooter on the wing. Harden has become one of the league’s premier and most complete offensive players. On Tuesday night his full repertoire was on display.

The difference with Harden this year has been his play on the other end of the court, where he no longer finds himself serving as the the butt of jokes. You won't find any YouTube clips mocking Harden's defense this season. Against the Suns, Harden found himself guarding, and stopping, guys like Eric Bledsoe on the perimeter and Markieff Morris down low. With Dwight Howard out the Rockets have been forced to go with some different lineups -- some of which have left Harden defending players in the post. Harden put in the effort no matter who he was matched up on and Houston was able to get enough stops to allow Harden to win the game on the other end of the court.

Eventually, the question is going to be whether Harden should be the league MVP. His numbers certainly put him in that conversation. He’s averaging 27.5 points per game on 45 percent shooting, 39 percent shooting from behind the arc to go along with 6.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game. The NBA’s leader in free-throws made and attempted. A Player Efficiency Rating of 27.61, the fifth-best number in the league. A player carrying a contending team on his back.

Pulled up the Net Ratings for Brow, Curry, Harden + LeBron. The MVP race is gonna be tiiiiight. pic.twitter.com/AXLIK8GFDH
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) February 10, 2015

But that’s a conversation for a later point. For now, let’s just admire the great player that James Harden has become. The Rockets are playing without Howard and yet remain firmly planted at the top of the Western Conference standings. Harden is the reason why.

3 other things we learned

The Josh Smith signing is going to save Houston's season. Smith, once again, was excellent, going for 20 points, six rebounds and three assists. Over his last five games, Smith is averaging 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game. He's even hitting 52 percent of the four three-pointers he's attempting. He had a plus-13 rating on the night and just looked as comfortable and fluid as he has in years. He's moving the ball well and recognizing where to throw it. Against the Suns, Smith looked particularly comfortable passing from the paint to shooters standing in the corners. He's giving the Rockets some interior defense and his versatility allows Houston to switch frequently, something its done in the absence of Dwight Howard. It looks like two teams have benefited from Stan Van Gundy's decision to send Smith packing.

Brian Shaw is out of ideas. At this point, the Nuggets might as well just put their head coach out of his misery. During Tuesday night's Lakers-Nuggets game, TNT's Rachel Nichols reported Shaw started "reading books about how to relate to millennials." This is the same guy who recently rapped a scouting report to his team, and accused his team of trying to lose on purpose. Yeah, his Nuggets beat the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday, 106-96, but they're still just 20-33 on the season and Shaw seems to just be grasping at straws. Coming up with ways to motivate a team over an 82-game season can be tough. Luckily for Shaw, it seems like that's something he won't have to worry about.

The Kings players have no interest in sending Tyrone Corbin out on a high note. By now we all know that George Karl is going to the Kings' head coach at some point this season. He'll likely be in charge by the end of the All-Star break, meaning Tuesday night's 104-84 road loss to the Bulls may have been Corbin's second-to-last game. The 20-point loss dropped Corbin's record as the Kings' head coach this year to 7-20; the Kings were 11-13 when Corbin took over for the fired Mike Malone. A blowout was surely not how Corbin wanted to go out. He will get another chance to change that on Wednesday, but it doesn't seem like Sacramento's players have any interest in making him look good.

Play of the Night

Harden wasn’t the only one with some highlights on Tuesday. Check out what Markieff Morris did to Josh Smith, who does get props for at least trying to step up here and play D.