James

Harden

While Harden’s ability to get to the foul line repeatedly was a major factor in Sunday’s win, he also made some history. With his 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining in the second quarter, The Beard joined Stephen Curry as the only players in NBA history to make at least 3,000 3-pointers in a career. Providing top-5 value in 8-cat formats, Harden is closing in on 1st-round value in 9-cat. While many expected his production to improve this season, few expected Harden to be this good.

After dropping 43 points on efficient shooting in their last game, Harden wasn’t able to replicate it in an encore. Still, he was able to stuff the stat sheet. He has been elite this season in category leagues despite a poor field goal percentage and a ton of turnovers because he consistently pours in points, rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers. His 13-of-22 shooting in their last game was fluky, but this level of production is something that he has provided all season and should have no issues maintaining. He’ll look to wrap up the week with a strong performance against the Nuggets on Sunday.

Harden’s 43 points were a season-high and his first game with at least 40 points this year. He’s one of four players with at least 100 career 40-point games (Wilt, MJ, Kobe) and passed Kobe for most halves with at least 30 points all-time. It was Harden’s first game with at least 40-points in the regular season since March of 2021. It’s possible he could’ve had even more points if the game was closer as he had only two points in the fourth quarter.

Harden only played 30 minutes in the 32-point loss and was still just two rebounds and one assist away from a triple-double. Still, Harden wasn’t efficient as he had 19 points on 17 shots. He turned the ball over five times and was -13. Harden has missed out on some production with two lopsided games in a row, but that will happen over the course of a long season.

While many of the 76ers fans in attendance booed Harden every time he touched the ball, they eventually directed their ire toward the home team in the 125-99 defeat. With the game effectively over by the end of the third quarter, Harden missed out on some production, but the points and assists were solid. The Clippers begin a four-game Week 6 schedule in Boston on Monday.

Since scoring 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting in the Clippers’ November 17 win over Utah, Harden has shot 14-of-37 from the field. However, despite shooting 34.4% from the field over the last week, he has been a top 20 player in 9-cat formats. Harden’s production in other categories, especially assists, has been good enough to minimize the impact of his poor shooting from the field. The Clippers now hit the road, beginning with Sunday’s game in Philadelphia to end Week 5.

Harden finished Wednesday’s win with as many turnovers as assists (five), but the Clippers’ defensive execution ensured that the turnovers weren’t an issue. Harden sits just outside the first round in 12-team formats for the season when punting turnovers. He will have the occasional high-turnover night, especially with Kawhi Leonard (knee) sidelined.

While he wasn’t on the injury report leading into Monday’s game, Harden was under the weather, according to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue. That likely explains The Beard’s scoring production tailing off after halftime, as he focused more on setting up his teammates. The 16 assists matched Harden’s season-high, and he committed just three turnovers. Harden is providing first-round per-game value in 8-cat formats.

What a night for Harden. For the eighth time in his career, he finished a game with at least 10 assists and no turnovers. Thus far, turnovers have been the most significant issue for The Beard this season, with a two-round gap between his 8-cat (1st-round) and 9-cat (3rd) values. Also, he made some history, moving into second place on the all-time 3-pointers list. Harden entered Sunday tied with Ray Allen at 2,973 3-pointers. The Clippers are among the few teams playing four games in Week 5, beginning with the Warriors on Monday.

Harden didn’t play all that well in what ended up being an ugly loss for the Clippers. However, he did come close to making some history. He needed four 3-pointers to pass Ray Allen on the all-time 3-point leaderboard. Harden hit three, so now they’re tied at 2,973. He won’t pass Stephen Curry, who was at 3,779 prior to Friday’s game against the Grizzlies. Harden has been a strong but inefficient option in 9-cat leagues so far this season, which is what managers should expect from him until Kawhi Leonard returns, whenever that may be. Harden did hit at least half of his shot attempts in this game for just the second time this season, but the turnovers still plagued him.