On Saturday afternoon, the Los Angeles Clippers visited the Charlotte Hornets amid news of Chris Paul’s impending retirement, and former NBA MVP James Harden put on a record-setting performance in their team’s 131-116 win.
Harden erupted for 55 points on 17-for-26 shooting, which also included him knocking down 10 three-pointers in the game. Along with that, the Clippers star had seven assists, three rebounds, and a steal. He outscored his fellow starters by 10 points and scored 24 more points than the Clippers’ reserve players.
Following the Clippers’ victory over Charlotte, the NBA announced that Harden officially set the Clippers’ single-game scoring record. Before today’s new total, Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo and former Clippers star Charles Smith shared the record with their 52-point performances.
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According to Statmuse, McAdoo scored that point total twice, while Smith achieved it once during his time with the Clippers.
However, there is now one sole owner of the franchise record. In addition to Harden making a statement with his performance, the former Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets star made a few statements with his post-game messages.
Taking to X, he shared a post-game video clip in which a reporter asked him to talk about how his “life behind the scenes off the court” helps him achieve these kinds of performances.
“Basketball is life,” Harden stated before walking away from the interviewer to celebrate with his teammates.
Along with that, he wrote “drops [microphone emoji]” with the hashtag “#Uno” on his social media post.
A highlight reel of Harden’s shots from all over the place arrived on social media. In many of those clips, Hornets rookie Liam McNeeley was the one who drew the challenging task of trying to stop the former MVP.
He hit jumpers from the lane and some dazzling shots from downtown, including a few four-point play attempts. The Clippers star unloaded on the Hornets for 35 points before halftime, en route to Saturday’s franchise record-setting performance.
It’s certainly the types of performances the Clippers will need as they continue to compete in the stacked Western Conference. As of this writing, the team is a surprising 5-11 overall, despite having several of the NBA’s best players in Harden and Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard didn’t participate in Saturday’s game due to an ankle injury, but is expected to return Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That might give Harden a slight break after putting up such incredible numbers, but the team may also want to keep riding the hot hand as they look to get more wins.
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