Today in Rockets history: James Harden leads comeback bid with 57

Of Harden’s 57 points in Memphis on March 20, 2019, 28 came in the fourth quarter and overtime — after Houston had trailed by 19 points.

One year ago, James Harden scored 57 points as the Houston Rockets stormed back from a huge fourth-quarter deficit in Memphis.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, it still wasn’t enough to win. The Rockets outscored the Grizzlies by a commanding 37-18 margin in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but Memphis edged them out in OT, 126-125 (box score), on a free throw in the final second from Jonas Valanciunas.

Of Harden’s 57 points, 28 came in the fourth quarter or overtime, including several late shots to bring his team back after the game seemed to be out of reach. It nearly tied Harden’s career high of 61 points in a game, which was set twice during the 2018-19 campaign, and it was his seventh of nine games that season with 50 or more points.

At the time, it was just Houston’s second loss in a 14-game span. After the highlight video, check out excerpts of the March 20, 2019 game recap from former RocketsWire Editor Kelly Cohen.

The reigning MVP did it all on the second night of a back-to-back, dropping 57 points with nine made 3-pointers and going 12-of-12 on free throws.

Harden played 46 minutes of a possible 53 and also recorded eight assists, seven rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.

This performance means Harden has had five-straight months with at least one 50-point game, joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only other NBA player to accomplish this.

This season, Harden has scored 50 or more points more times than he’s scored less than 25.

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(Editor’s note: With the 2019-20 season on hiatus due to the NBA’s coronavirus-induced shutdown, we’re looking back at key moments in franchise history. We’ll have more of our Rockets Rewind series coming up, since the stoppage is expected to last for at least several weeks.)