Harden’s best scoring output of the 2019-20 season came on Nov. 30 in a 158-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks, where he’d go on to score 60 points (16-24 FG, 8-14 3Pt, 20-23 FT).
The 2019-20 NBA season was a unique one, given the circumstances at the time. With a strict worldwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA was shut down in March and didn’t resume until later in the year. Ultimately, the regular season went from late October 2019 to mid-August 2020, with the playoffs ending in October.
It was also one of the best seasons of James Harden’s career. The star shooting guard, who was playing for the Houston Rockets, finished the regular season as the Association’s leading scorer with an average of 34.3 points per game. He was one of three players to score at least 30 ppg, with Bradley Beal (Wizards, 30.5) and Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers, 30.0) being the others. The Top 5 in scoring was rounded out by Trae Young (Hawks, 29.6 ppg) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks, 29.5 ppg).
Harden’s best scoring output of the 2019-20 season came on Nov. 30 in a 158-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks, where he’d go on to score 60 points (16-24 FG, 8-14 3Pt, 20-23 FT) while adding eight assists, three rebounds, three steals and a block across 31 minutes. That was one of the five games in which Harden scored at least 50 points in a regular-season game in 2019-20.
The other games were a 59-point outburst in an Oct. 30 win over the Wizards, a 55-point effort in a Dec. 11 win over the Cavaliers, a 54-point performance against the Magic on Dec. 13, and a 50-point output against the Spurs on Dec. 3. That game against the Spurs would be a 135-133 double-overtime loss, with the Rockets going 4-1 when Harden reached the 50-point plateau. Harden would go on to score 40 or more points in 21 different games during that impressive 2019-20 campaign, and he’d also scored at least 30 points in more than half of his regular-season appearances, doing so in 44 of his 68 contests.
He also ended with 22 double-doubles and four triple-doubles. From a numerical perspective, his best performance in those triple-double games came in a 118-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 3, 2020, when he finished with 44 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists across 41 minutes. His ability to fill the stat sheet was impressive. The star guard delivered 15 games with at least 10 assists, nine with at least 10 rebounds, and two in which he grabbed 15 or more boards — a very uncommon feat for a backcourt player.
Ultimately, Harden appeared in 68 regular-season contests with the Rockets and posted impressive numbers across the board aside from averaging over 34 points per game. Harden also averaged 7.5 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per contest while logging 36.5 minutes per game. He was named to the 2020 All-Star Game and the All-NBA 1st-Team. Harden also finished third in the MVP race behind the eventual winner, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and LeBron James.
Harden led the Rockets to the playoffs, but Houston lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, who would go on to win the 2020 NBA Finals, in the Western Conference Semifinals in five games. He averaged 29.6 points, 7.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks per game in 12 postseason contests. Harden also shot 47.8 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point range in that playoff run.
