The Houston Rockets guard James Harden saw his streak of scoring at least 30 points in a game come to an end at 32 outings on Monday, when he finished with 28 points in his team’s 119-111 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Harden seemed almost relieved.
“It was cool,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t going to get to No. 1.”
Monday’s game marked the fourth time James Harden has gone 0-for-10 or worse on 3-pointers. That’s the most in NBA history and twice as many games as any other player (Stephen Curry twice, Antoine Walker twice).
| DATE | 3PT | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| Monday (vs. Hawks) | 0-10 | 28 |
| 2015 (at Heat) | 0-10 | 16 |
| 2013 (vs. Suns) | 0-10 | 14 |
| 2009 (at Lakers) | 0-10 | 10 |
| — ESPN Stats & Information |
Harden’s 32-game run of performances of 30 points or more marked the second-longest such streak in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 65-game tear from 1961 to ’62. But the reigning MVP wasn’t disappointed by the streak coming to an end after the Rockets captured their second consecutive victory to move to 35-25 on the season.
Harden returned to action against the Hawks after missing Saturday’s win over Golden State with a neck injury.
The guard said the matchup against Atlanta marked the first time that he was able to move his neck, but he didn’t use the injury as an excuse for his 7-of-21 shooting performance, in which he missed all 10 of his 3-point attempts.
“It’s been a few days, and so it actually felt good to go out there and just move it and run around,” Harden said. “I haven’t really done any working out or any movement. I’ve been in bed, really.”
The win over the Hawks marked the fourth time that Harden has finished 0-for-10 or worse from 3-point range, which is the most such games in NBA history and twice as many as that of any other player (Stephen Curry twice, Antoine Walker twice).
Harden reached 28 points on a driving floater with 23.3 seconds left to play, and it appeared that he might pull off a feat similar to what he did against the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 11, when he knocked down a 3-pointer in the final minute to keep his streak alive.
Harden took possession of the ball with 10.6 seconds remaining with a raucous crowd at the Toyota Center screaming for him to score. He sped up the court, and it appeared that he would try to put up one last shot. But as Harden crossed midcourt, he picked up the ball and let the final seconds tick off the clock to preserve the win.
James Harden had 28 points and decided NOT TO SHOOT to snap his streak of 32 straight games with 30 points or more 🤔 (via @FOXSports) pic.twitter.com/hXFpHSRzug
— Overtime (@overtime) February 26, 2019
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was asked whether Harden’s decision to not hoist up another shot in the waning moments showed class, and the coach laughed.
James Harden had 28 points so the Hawks decided to quadruple team him at the end of the game, ending his 30-point streak at 32 games. 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/XdG3d9mdOF
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) February 26, 2019
“You guys probably would’ve killed him on Twitter, right?” D’Antoni said, laughing. “It was self-preservation. That was smart. I don’t know about having class. That was smart.”