James Harden is seven years removed from his MVP season with the Rockets, but he can still get buckets with the best of them. That much was clear in the first quarter of the Clippers’ game against the Hornets on Saturday afternoon.
In a homecoming game for his fellow future Hall of Famer teammate Chris Paul, who signaled his intention to retire at the end of the season, Harden has put on a show for the fans in Charlotte. In the first quarter alone, Harden was 9-for-12 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range, scoring 27 points.
James Harden dropped 2️⃣7️⃣ points in the first quarter 🤯
(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/lOyTFddgQ0
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 22, 2025
That mark ties a franchise record for most points in a quarter by a Clippers player, matching Lou Williams’s output in the third quarter of a 125–106 win over the Warriors on Jan. 10, 2018. Williams finished with an even 50 points that night.
Harden finished the half with 35 points.
At 36, Harden should be past his prime, but he’s still scoring like an All-Star and seems capable of carrying a team on the right night. Fans can’t believe the outburst they’re seeing out of him.
This is a WILD box score.
Harden has 35 points in 17 minutes in the first minutes.
Only other player with more than 4 points is Zubac. pic.twitter.com/532zVyld6h
— Michael Fiddle (@FiddlesPicks) November 22, 2025
James Harden’s on X Games mode 😳
His 27 first-quarter points are the most any player in any quarter in the NBA this season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/spRGARUQNq
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) November 22, 2025
This is Harden’s third quarter with 27 or more points. Since the start of the play-by-play era in 1996-97, only Kobe Bryant and Devin Booker have more (both did it four times). https://t.co/aXhBl9HhTK
— Crazy Stats (@NBAcrazystats) November 22, 2025
James Harden is 36 years old and getting face guarded 40 feet away from the hoop without the ball
We will never see another player like him
— Sheldon Wohlman | Utility Sports (@_utilitysports) November 22, 2025
And of course, your regular reminder that the defending NBA champion Thunder own the Clippers’ unprotected 2026 first-round pick.
we all james harden fans this season pic.twitter.com/WJaAqVvUoo
— jeffonsports (@j_shao_) November 20, 2025
Los Angeles has struggled to a 4–11 record entering Saturday. The team has been without Kawhi Leonard since Nov. 3; he has been limited to just six games this season.
Harden has done his best to try and carry the Clippers. He is averaging 26.5 points, 8.6 assists and 6.2 rebounds on the season while shooting 44% from the field and over 38% from three. Harden is putting together his best statistical season since joining L.A. in 2023–24, and has his highest scoring average since 2019–20, his final full season with the Rockets.
This ties Harden’s second-highest scoring quarter of his career, with a 2019 Rockets win over the Spurs. He scored a career-high 29 points in a single quarter the following season, in a 158–111 Houston win against the Hawks.
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