James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers nonetheless have a lot to play for over the ultimate 4 video games of the common season. Whereas it’s unlikely that they’re unseated because the 4th seed within the Western Convention, they nonetheless need to stave off the surging Dallas Mavericks in the event that they wish to hold dwelling court docket benefit within the first spherical of the playoffs. They’ll play back-to-back video games in opposition to the Phoenix Suns to begin the week, and Harden will likely be setting himself as much as chase a few NBA profession milestones.
Harden Is On The Doorstep Of Two NBA Milestones
Paul George’s 23 4th-quarter factors assist the Clippers rally from 26 all the way down to beat the Cavs 🔥
PG-13 – 39 pts, 11 reb, 7 ast
James Harden – 22 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast pic.twitter.com/67VMHpwQyg— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 7, 2024
He is likely one of the most statistically completed gamers which are lively within the league right this moment. He’s #3 on the checklist of three-pointers made all time, and needs to be passing Ray Allen for the #2 spot early on within the 2024-25 season. He’s twentieth on the all-time scoring checklist as nicely, and will move Kevin Garnett throughout the first few video games of the following marketing campaign as nicely.
However there are a few marks that he’s threatening going into the ultimate week of the season. The primary, and the one that he’s extremely unlikely to succeed in, is the 26,000 factors mark. Harden will enter the week needing 119 factors to hit the milestone, which signifies that he must common 30 factors per recreation over the ultimate 4, a complete that he has reached simply as soon as this season whereas averaging 16.7 per. It’s seemingly that he’ll eclipse the 26k factors mark within the second or third recreation of subsequent season.
The Steals Mark Feels Extra Achievable Over Remaining Week
James Harden is just 26 steals shy of breaking into the highest 30 all-time in steals.
“HaRdEN iS a LaZy dEFeNDeR!” 🤡 pic.twitter.com/Z4bB2ABWKX
— Sai (@LeGoatedOne) April 5, 2024
However the steals milestone feels very achievable. Harden has some time to go till he’s ranked within the top-25 all-time in variety of steals in NBA historical past, coming in at #37. However he’s developing on a private milestone within the class, as he wants simply 3 steals throughout the closing week of the season with a view to hit 1,600 for his profession. He could even move Jason Terry for #36 on the checklist if he one way or the other nabs 7 defensive takeaways over the ultimate 4 video games, although that can seemingly come subsequent season as nicely.
He has averaged higher than one steal per recreation in primarily each season of his profession, and 2023-24 has been no totally different. Harden is stealing 1.1 balls per recreation this yr, and will be capable of hit the 1,600 mark in his 4 video games to wrap up the NBA season.