James Harden's streak continues, but it sure wasn't pretty.
In the Houston Rockets' 121-116 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, the reigning MVP finished with a game-high 37 points, extending his streak of consecutive 30-point games to 24. Harden, however, shot only 11-for-32 from the field, 6-for-18 from the 3-point line and 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
Harden came out of the gates on fire with 11 points in the first quarter, but he struggled in the second and third quarter, combining for 15 points on 2-for-11 shooting. He then looked more like his normal self in the fourth quarter when he scored 15 points, though a turnover in the final minute of the game ended Houston's shot at a comeback.
Harden thought he got fouled so he just ran out of bounds 🤔 pic.twitter.com/n2ibbWKtkW
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 30, 2019
Despite the poor shooting performance, Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and Elgin Baylor in the record books as the only players to ever average 40 points per game in a calendar month (minimum 10 games played).
James Harden has played his 14th and final game in January.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 30, 2019
His 43.6 PPG in January were the 7th most in a calendar month in NBA history, and the most by any player not named Wilt Chamberlain (min. 10 games).
(@EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/MS0WrJ4XNg
Jrue Holiday spend most of Tuesday's game matched up with Harden. The one-time All-Star blocked a career-high six shots, three of which came against Harden. The last guard to block Harden three times in a single game was Klay Thompson back in 2015, per Pelicans PR.
In addition to the blocks, Holiday scored 19 points, dished out eight assists and pulled down six rebounds in the win. He came up big down the stretch with eight big points in the fourth quarter when the Rockets were trying to make a run.
Filling in for the injured Anthony Davis, Jahlil Okafor led the Pelicans in scoring with 27 points. He posted averages of 19.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in his previous four games as a starter.
The Pelicans are now 2-3 since Davis injured his finger.