James Harden Nearly Outscored The Grizzlies With A Masterful First Half Performance

The Houston Rockets are playing their best basketball of the season, winning nine out of ten games as 2019 approaches. Still, the suddenly threatening squad faced a potentially difficult test on New Year’s Eve, playing host to the Memphis Grizzlies. Fortunately for Houston, though, James Harden was on their side and the reigning NBA MVP put on a memorable show in the first half.

Harden, who entered the night on an individual tear of his own in leading the Rockets’ resurgence, absolutely exploded in the first 24 minutes of play. When the dust settled, Harden scored 28 points (on 7-of-10 shooting, 5-of-7 from three and 9-of-13 from the line), dished out eight assists and snatched five rebounds in less than 19 minutes of court time.

That is, of course, ridiculous on every level and Harden nearly outscored the Grizzlies in the process. Memphis scuffled mightily, scoring only 38 points as a team and making only 32 percent of their shots. For good measure, the visitors turned the ball over seven times and, if you account for Harden’s assists, he was directly responsible for more points than a playoff-caliber opponent through an entire half of basketball.

During Houston’s spree, Harden has been playing like an MVP candidate, averaging 39.4 points, 8.0 assists and 5.9 rebounds per contest during the run. Still, he one-upped himself on this particular night and Harden didn’t even wait until the second half to turn in a performance worthy of full-game accolades.