James Harden scored 54 points on extremely efficient shooting and made all sorts of history in a dominant 130-107 road victory (box score) by the Houston Rockets on Friday against the Orlando Magic.
Harden made 10 three-pointers for a second consecutive game, with both tying the all-time Rockets record for made treys in a single game. He’s just the second player in NBA history to make 10 or more three-pointers in two straight games, joining Golden State’s Stephen Curry.
Friday’s win is the sixth in eight games for the Rockets (17-8), who are now six games better at the 25-game mark than they were in the 2018-19 season at 11-14. Orlando fell to 11-14 this season with the loss.
Between Wednesday’s win at Cleveland and Friday’s victory in Orlando, Harden has combined for 109 points in his last two games on better than 60% shooting from the field and from three-point range. In those wins, the NBA’s leading scorer has averaged just 5.5 free throw attempts per game — reflecting the diversity of his scoring prowess.
On top of his scoring, Harden made key plays defensively with three blocks and two steals — including multiple sequences late in the game where he followed up a takeaway with a bucket on the other end.
Russell Westbrook continued his recent hot stretch with 23 points on 50% shooting, along with seven rebounds and six assists. Ben McLemore had 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting (85.7%) on three-pointers, while P.J. Tucker and Clint Capela each had a team-high 11 rebounds.
Harden also contributed as a facilitator with a team-high seven assists, including this one on a McLemore trey in the fourth quarter.
The Magic were led by 27 points from guard Evan Fournier, who made six three-pointers of his own on 11 attempts.
The Rockets return to play Saturday night at home in Houston against the Detroit Pistons (10-15), with Westbrook likely unavailable due to planned maintenance on the second half of a back-to-back sequence of games.
