Single-core team leadership, cold feel, can not stop James Harden to return to peak state! In the case of Kevin Durant's injury, James Harden got a comprehensive stat of 36 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, leading the Nets to a 115-113 narrow victory over the Magic after falling behind by 19 points at one point, thus holding the first place in the East with a record of 12 wins and 5 losses. This is the 21st time in Harden's NBA career that he has won 20+ penalties in the regular season, tying Kobe Bryant, ranking first in NBA history?
So far this season, Harden's average score per game has dropped significantly, and an important reason is that his free throws have been trapped by the new NBA rules have decreased a lot, so many people have questioned Harden's stardom, but on the night when Irving is still outside the three realms and Durant cannot be injured due to injury, Harden, who is single-core, has found his peak feeling. In this game, Harden hit only 7 of his 25 shots, shooting only 28.0%, including only 23.1% outside the three-point line, while he also had 6 turnovers and 4 fouls, which is really not good.
However, Harden found his former unique job, that is, to make free throws, he constantly gave the young Magic "lessons", won 20 free throw opportunities and hit 19 shots, creating two highest records for the number of free throws and hits by NBA players so far this season, which is the key to the Nets' big reversal against the Magic. Although Harden has only had 1 of his first 9 regular season games of the season and has made no less than 5 free throw shots, he has won more than 10 free throws in 3 consecutive games in recent times, and the familiar "bumper" is back!
This is the 21st regular season free throw in Harden's NBA career! What is this concept? Only 2 of the NBA's active players have won more than 20+ free throws in a single game in the regular season, except for Harden, dwight Howard, and LeBron James has been able to rank third among active NBA players in the regular season performance 15 times. It is worth mentioning that unlike Howard, who has repeatedly been "cut", the vast majority of Harden's free throws are actively fought for by himself.
Harden scored 20+ free throws in the regular season on 21 occasions, tying Kobe Bryant, Jerry West and Bob Petit to tie for sixth place in NBA history. So far, only Chamberlain, Shaker O'Neal, Moses Malone, Howard and Carl Malone have made 20+ free throws in a single game in the regular season than Harden, and they are all frontcourt players. At present, Harden is only 1 game away from Carl Malone, who ranks fifth in NBA history, and 8 games away from Howard, who ranks fourth, and in Harden's current state, it is only a matter of time before he ranks in the top five in this NBA historical data.