Rockets’ Harden arrives in Sacramento on a streak achieved by only one other NBA player
The Kings started this crucial six-game home stand with wins over the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and San Antonio Spurs, but each new day brings a new challenge, and now they find themselves near The Beard.
Reigning NBA MVP James Harden is on an historic scoring streak as he leads the Houston Rockets into Sacramento to face the Kings on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center. Harden has scored 30 or more points in 27 consecutive games. The only player in league history with a longer streak of 30-point games is Wilt Chamberlain, who set an NBA record with 65 in a row in 1961-62 and had 31 in a row the following season.
“That’s incredible,” Kings guard Yogi Ferrell said following practice Tuesday. “To see what he’s doing ... is something spectacular. He’s in a different zone right now. We’re going to try to break him out of that zone when they come here.”
The Kings (28-25) have won four of their last five and are within a game of the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers (30-25), who beat the Charlotte Hornets 117-115 on Tuesday. The Rockets (31-22) are tied with the Spurs for fifth in the Western Conference.
Houston went 11-14 to start the season, but the Rockets have gone 20-8 over the past two months. They are missing center Clint Capela, who is out with a thumb injury, but guard Chris Paul recently returned after missing 17 games with a strained hamstring.
The Rockets defeated the Kings 132-112 on Nov. 17 in Houston. Harden scored 34 points for the Rockets, who shot 56.8 percent from the field and made 20 of 47 from 3-point range.
“They got off to a little bit of a slow start, but they’ve found themselves and got their rhythm and (Harden is) playing at a very high level,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said. “He is difficult to guard. You just try to put different people in front of him and try to give him different looks.”
Harden is averaging 36.5 points, 8 assists and 6.8 rebounds. He’s shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range. He’s on pace to become the sixth player in NBA history to average at least 35 points, a feat previously achieved only by Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Harden averaged 31.3 points in November, 36.4 in December and 43.6 in January. He scored 57 points against the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 14, 58 against the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 16 and 61 against the New York Knicks on Jan. 23.
Kings small forward Iman Shumpert will likely have the primary assignment of guarding Harden, but that task will be a group effort for the Kings. Ferrell was asked what a defender can do to slow Harden.
“Not much, truthfully,” he said. “I guess the biggest thing is make all his buckets hard, make him have to earn his buckets. I feel like that’s the main thing. If you’ve got a hand in his face and he’s fading away, that’s just a shot you have to live with, but if he’s getting wide-open 3s and getting to the lane easily and getting fouls and free throws, that’s where they hurt you.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2019 at 6:37 PM.