James Harden became the 45th NBA player to score 20,000 career points on Saturday as the Houston Rockets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 139-109.
Harden got 22 points in the first half alone, including a step-back three-pointer that moved the 30-year-old past 20,000 and pushed the Rockets towards victory.
In the night"s other games, the Detroit Pistons lost 108-99 to the Chicago Bulls, the Los Angeles Lakers went 125-110 over the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks blew out the Philadelphia 76ers 109-91.
🚀 𝟐𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐃!
𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁, @JHarden13 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟰𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 @NBAHistory 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝟮𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀. pic.twitter.com/HRNmCuOkSL
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) January 11, 2020
The Denver Nuggets suffered an upset 110-103 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 122-101.
Jayson Tatum led the way with 41 points at TD Garden as his Boston Celtics trounced the New Orleans Pelicans 140-105 and broke a three-game losing streak.
Tatum shot an efficient 16-of-22 from the field and six of nine from the three-point line on his way to a career-high 41, with Gordon Hayward, Jalen Brown and Kemba Walker all having strong games.
⭐41 PTS | 72.7% FG% ⭐@jaytatum0's career-high night is the perfect reminder to vote for him for @NBAAllStar 👉https://t.co/FMwC6YTlFy pic.twitter.com/Fn102iepnn
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 12, 2020
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he thinks Tatum has had "a great year but I think he can get better".
"I just think he's gonna be ever-improving, he had a couple of finishes with good hands early in the game, I think he has the right attitude, attack," Stevens told reporters.
