The Houston Rockets beat the Atlanta Hawks 122-115 on Wednesday evening from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. However, it was the play by one player on both teams that are generating a significant amount of buzz.
In the Rockets seven-point victory, Houston shooting guard James Harden of Bellflower, California and Trae Young of Lubbock, Texas made NBA history. They became the first players to record 40 point triple doubles in the same game according to nba.com.
Harden had 41 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Meanwhile, Young had 42 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
Harden has loved feasting on the Hawks defense this season. He now has 101 points against the Hawks in two games. On November 30, Harden posted 60 points in a 158-111 win over the Hawks.
So far this season, Harden leads the NBA with 38.5 points per game. Four other times this season Harden has reached the 50 point plateau for a single game. On October 30, he scored 59 points in a 159-158 win over the Washington Wizards. Harden also had 50 points in a 135-133 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on December 3, 55 points in a 116-110 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 11 and 54 points in a 130-107 win over the Orlando Magic on December 13.
You could clearly make the argument that James Harden is the best player in the NBA at the moment. He has led the NBA in points per game over the last three seasons. He had 30.4 points per game in 2017-18 and then 36.1 points per game in 2018-19. Harden also led the NBA in 11.2 assists per game in 2016-17.
On 10 occasions this season a player has reached 50 points or more in a game. In five if those 10 times, it has been Harden who has accomplished the feat.
Houston is third in the West with a record of 25 wins and 11 losses. Atlanta is last in the East with a record of eight wins and 30 losses.
