James Harden is seven years removed from his MVP season with the Rockets, but he can still get buckets with the best of them. That much was clear in the first quarter of the Clippers’ game against the Hornets on Saturday afternoon.
In a homecoming game for his fellow future Hall of Famer teammate Chris Paul, who signaled his intention to retire at the end of the season, Harden has put on a show for the fans in Charlotte. In the first quarter alone, Harden was 9-for-12 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range, scoring 27 points.
That mark ties a franchise record for most points in a quarter by a Clippers player, matching Lou Williams’s output in the third quarter of a 125–106 win over the Warriors on Jan. 10, 2018. Williams finished with an even 50 points that night.
Harden finished the half with 35 points.
At 36, Harden should be past his prime, but he’s still scoring like an All-Star and seems capable of carrying a team on the right night. Fans can’t believe the outburst they’re seeing out of him.
And of course, your regular reminder that the defending NBA champion Thunder own the Clippers’ unprotected 2026 first-round pick.
Los Angeles has struggled to a 4–11 record entering Saturday. The team has been without Kawhi Leonard since Nov. 3; he has been limited to just six games this season.
Harden has done his best to try and carry the Clippers. He is averaging 26.5 points, 8.6 assists and 6.2 rebounds on the season while shooting 44% from the field and over 38% from three. Harden is putting together his best statistical season since joining L.A. in 2023–24, and has his highest scoring average since 2019–20, his final full season with the Rockets.
This ties Harden’s second-highest scoring quarter of his career, with a 2019 Rockets win over the Spurs. He scored a career-high 29 points in a single quarter the following season, in a 158–111 Houston win against the Hawks.
