Harden drops 50 despite historically poor shooting from the field

It took two overtime frames, but James Harden eclipsed the half-century mark for the third time this season, finishing with 50 points in a 135-133 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.

However, there's a statistical case to be made that Harden's effort, though certainly prolific, is the least efficient 50-point outing in NBA history. The 30-year-old guard shot just 11-of-38 from the field, including 4-of-20 from 3-point territory.

Prior to Tuesday's tilt, there had been only three instances of a player shooting worse than 40% from the field while still scoring 50 or more points. Wilt Chamberlain did it twice in the early 1960s; Russell Westbrook shot 38.6% during a 51-point triple-double in 2016. No one had ever shot below 30% in a 50-point game.

Harden shot 28.9%, easily the worst mark ever in a 50-point game, according to StatMuse's Justin Kubatko, who also notes that his 16 misses from beyond the arc tied the all-time single-game record for missed threes.

His lone saving grace? A perfect night from the free-throw line, where Harden nailed all 24 of his freebies. Ironically, his 24-of-24 shooting from the line broke Dominique Wilkins' single-game record for most free throws without a miss. According to NBA.com/Stats, the Hall of Fame Atlanta Hawks legend previously set the all-time mark at 23-of-23.

But it was ultimately the free throws that Harden couldn't draw that spelled the difference between a road win for the Houston Rockets and a bitter double-overtime defeat. Twice Harden drove to the hoop for a potential go-ahead bucket - first with the score tied with 0.4 left in regulation, then trailing by one point with 0.8 left in the second overtime frame. And twice the officials whistled Harden for an offensive foul, the latter infraction essentially sealing the Spurs' win.

Regardless, Harden's latest one-man show raises his already league-leading scoring rate to 39.5 points per game, nearly nine points higher than that of Giannis Antetokounmpo, his chief rival in last season's MVP race. The Milwaukee Bucks star forward is currently scoring 30.8 points per outing.