James Harden drops 57 points in Rockets' OT loss to Grizzlies
James Harden gave it about all he could on Wednesday night at FedEx Forum.
It just wasn’t enough.
Harden dropped 57 points on Wednesday — shooting 9-of-17 from the 3-point line — in the Rockets’ 126-125 overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, snapping their three-game win streak.
The reigning league MVP, who finished just four-points shy of tying his career-high, had a major push at the end of the game, too. Harden scored 28 of his 57 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, and had 15 points in a massive 17-2 run that helped force the extra period. He tied the game with just seconds left after sinking three free throws, too.
Harden has scored 57 points or more just four other times this season — including back in January against the Knicks, when he set his career-high at 61 points.
A wild finish in OT
The Grizzlies built up a five point lead with just 30 seconds left in overtime, and seemed to have the upper hand. Harden, though, quickly drained a deep 3-pointer to bring the Rockets within two points.
Then on the next possession, Harden forced a turnover while the Grizzlies were attempting to bring the ball up the floor and easily finished an uncontested layup to tie the game.
So, with 15.8 seconds left, the Grizzlies called a timeout — setting up one final play.
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Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley, on the final play, caught the inbounds pass at the top of the key. He held the ball, draining the clock until he drove and attempted to put up a highly contested floater.
That shot came up well short, and fell right into the arms of center Jonas Valanciunas. The former Raptors big man quickly caught the ball and went right back up, but was fouled by Raptors center Clint Capela with just 0.1 seconds left on the clock.
Valanciunas hit one free throw, and the game was over — giving the Grizzlies the one-point lead in one of the craziest overtime finishes of the season.
Grizzlies and Rockets had one of the most bizarre OT endings to a game this season... pic.twitter.com/HmjPkLJtfF
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 21, 2019
Conley led the Grizzlies with 35 points, shooting 12-of-23 from the field. Valanciunas was close behind with a double-double with 33 points, marking a career-high, and 15 rebounds. Bruno Caboclo finished with 15 points, and Chandler Parsons added 11 off the bench.
Chris Paul dropped 18 points in the loss for the Rockets, and Capela finished with a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. They were the only three who scored in double figures for Houston.
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