Clippers' James Harden still isn't tired after dropping 50 points on Pistons
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The Los Angeles Clippers are coming off their worst loss of the season on Tuesday night, blowing a 19-point fourth quarter lead en route to a 119-117 loss to the Phoenix Suns. But there is no rest for the weary in the NBA, especially in the middle of an 82-game regular season grind, with the Clippers having to face the upstart Detroit Pistons on the second night of a back-to-back. Fatigue, however, was not an issue for James Harden, as he put up his first 50-point game in over five years in a 123-115 win for the Clippers.
Harden hasn’t been shooting the ball well as of late, and coming off a game in which he logged 38 minutes, and in a devastating loss to the Suns no less, not too many could have expected him to pop off for his best performance of the season, recording 50 points on 14-24 shooting from the field, 6-13 from deep, and 16-20 from the foul line.
After the game, Kristina Pink of FanDuel Sports Network brought up the topic of rest in her postgame interview with Harden. And the Clippers star responded in a way that only the proven superstars of the NBA can.
“I’ll rest when the season’s over. I’ll rest when the season’s over,” Harden said, via the official NBA account on X (formerly Twitter).
"I'll rest when the season's over."
James Harden had the perfect walk-off line after dropping 50 PTS in the Clippers' win pic.twitter.com/vMHg0J7qsx
— NBA (@NBA) March 6, 2025
With it being the second night of a back-to-back, this performance was necessary for the Clippers to get back to winning ways. Kawhi Leonard, as is always the case, had to take a maintenance day, putting all the offensive creation burden on the shoulders of Harden.
Harden may be 35 years of age, and he runs out of gas more often these days than he did during his heyday, but his performance in this Clippers win shows that he can still fill up the scoring column with the best of them.
James Harden records 24th career 50-point game in Clippers win
There was once a time when James Harden recorded 40 or 50 points on a regular basis; but Harden, who has dealt with some lower-body injuries over the past few years, has been in the middle of a gradual decline that has slowed down his ability to fill up the scoring column.
The last time Harden recorded 50 points came on December 13, 2019, when he scored 54 in a 130-107 win for the Houston Rockets over the Orlando Magic. And on a night when hardly any Clipper other than him, Ivica Zubac, and Bogdan Bogdanovic can score the basketball, this explosion could not have been any more timely.
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