Houston Rockets: The shot James Harden used for his 20,000th point
Houston Rockets guard James Harden has joined the 20,000-point club, certainly cementing his spot in NBA history. What shot did he use to do the damage?
The Houston Rockets have elevated themselves to a 26-12 record after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves soundly 139-109 in a mid-Saturday afternoon game at Toyota Center. It was a peculiar 4 p.m. CST tip-off, which is definitely something you don’t see too often.
But in the upcoming schedule, there are quite a few games that mirror such an early tip-off so hang on to your hats, Houston Rockets fans and be prepared to watch this team early in the day at times on the weekend!
This contest was decided largely from the get-go and it featured this team staying above 50 percent shooting from three for most of the game.
The game involved just three ties, 12 lead changes and had the Houston Rockets lead as much as by 41 points in this contest. As expected, things were quite close in the first quarter but as their shooting took off, so did their lead on their opponent.
Outside of this being a typical regular-season game where the Houston Rockets stayed in control and didn’t let things get out of hand, there was some significant history that occurred.
What’s that you might say?
James Harden scored his 20,000th career point with 6:30 left in the first half being just the 45th player in NBA history to reach such a mark in their career.
Take a look at the historic video clip from the Houston Rockets here.
The Athletic’s Alykhan Bijani also highlighted these important facts about him as well:
Surprisingly, James Harden did not receive a standing ovation for 20,000 career points. Heavy cheers.
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) January 11, 2020
He is the 45th player (7th youngest) in NBA history to reach that mark. Harden also did it in the 17th fewest games played despite averaging 12.7 PPG in his first 3 seasons.
It’s quite surprising that he didn’t get a standing ovation but what would you expect in a mid-afternoon game that likely wasn’t at a capacity crowd on a beautiful, yet cool winter day in the H?
Despite all of that, the shot that he used to nail his 20,000th point was his signature step-back
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jumper and Robert Covington — who the Houston Rockets reportedly have a desire to trade for — was the victim of witnessing the history made first-hand.
It goes to show how truly special Harden is for this franchise and there will NEVER be another player to wear No. 13 again. He’s a true Hall of Famer in every sense of the word and we’re just patiently waiting for the Beard to bring the H a championship, which will culminate his already extremely impressive resume.
Harden finished up with 32/12/8 with a shooting line of .471/.545/.769 for tonight.
Russell Westbrook also chipped in 30 points, six rebounds and 10 assists while Isaiah Hartenstein dropped 17 points and 15 rebounds in his second career start for the injured Clint Capela.
Rockets: Isaiah Hartenstein's astronomical rise in the rotation. dark. Next
Eric Gordon chipped in 17 points off 38.5 percent shooting from three as well.
I honestly can’t wait to see what the Beard will do next.