It didn’t take James Harden very long at all to bring up a triple-double in the Philadelphia 76ers’ road clash with the Detroit Pistons – 17 minutes to be precise – on Monday (all times AEDT).
Sitting on 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists at half-time, Harden dished out a dime less than a minute into the third quarter to record the feat.
According to Sixers Stats, Harden joined Domantas Sabonis, Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Jason Kidd as the only players to tally 13-plus points, 10-plus assists and nine-plus assists in a half since 1996-97, while it was also the first time he’s reached such totals in a single half in his career.
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It marked Harden’s 71st career triple-double, which ranks eighth in NBA history, per Sixers Stats.
Harden also passed Russell Westbrook to move into 27th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list (24,005), trailing Sixers legend Allen Iverson (24,368) in 26th place.
His performance was crucial in leading a Joel Embiid-less Philly outfit past the Pistons 123-111 including not returning in the fourth quarter after helping build an 18-point lead.
With it, the Sixers claimed their fourth win from their last five games – including going 12-3 over their last 15 contests – to improve to 24-15 overall and sit fifth in the East.
Harden finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in 28 minutes, while Tyrese Maxey (23 points) and Montrezl Harrell (20 points, six rebounds, one block) also played key roles.
For Detroit, who’s NBA-worst record fell to 11-32, Killian Hayes posted a game-high 26 points with six assists and three steals, Isaiah Stewart racked up 20 points and 13 rebounds with a block and Bojan Bogdanovic had 20 points too.
The two teams will rematch in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
ELSEWHERE …
Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic will miss his team’s second end of a back-to-back against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday due to an ankle issue.
Doncic has been on an an absolute tear of late, recording his third triple-double from his last six games against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
The Slovenian star admitted his status against OKC was uncertain due to the nagging ankle problem.
The Mavericks go into the game with eight wins from their last nine games to push into the Western Conference’s fourth seed.
ALL RESULTS
76ERS 123 PISTONS 111
TRAIL BLAZERS 105 RAPTORS 117
HORNETS – PACERS
NETS – HEAT
JAZZ – GRIZZLIES
TIMBERWOLVES – ROCKETS
MAVERICKS – THUNDER
CAVALIERS – SUNS
HAWKS – CLIPPERS