As all eyes were on the 2015 NCAA Tournament, the NBA stepped up with an extraordinary evening of basketball. An MVP candidate had the greatest scoring performance of his career, a pair of postseason hopefuls clashed and multiple games were decided by single-digits.
This is how it all transpired.
1. James Harden went off for 50 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and a steal to lead the Houston Rockets past the Denver Nuggets 118-108. Randy Foye registered 23 points and Kenneth Faried tallied 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Harden’s efforts.
The 50 points set a new career-high for Harden.
2. Houston is 25-4 when Harden scores at least 30 points. It’s 21-18 when he doesn’t.
3. Markieff Morris scored 17 points and Brandan Wright had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks on 8-of-10 shooting to lead the Phoenix Suns to a big 74-72 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Eric Gordon led the Pelicans with 14 points, but the Suns’ starting lineup had 52 rebounds to 45 by New Orleans as a team.
The 74 points are the least Phoenix has ever scored in a wing.
4. Gordon Hayward put up 22 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block to lead the Utah Jazz past the Los Angeles Lakers 80-73. Trey Burke had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field for the Jazz, while Tarik Black stepped up with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers.
Utah is 14-4 in its past 18 games and has held 17 of its past 18 opponents to less than 100 points.
5. Two teams in competition for the No. 1 overall draft pick clashed as the Minnesota Timberwolves escaped with a 95-92 overtime victory against the New York Knicks. Kevin Martin scored 22 points, Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins tallied 20 points and Gorgui Dieng had 19 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks and two steals for the T-Wolves, while Langston Galloway scored 21 points and Alexey Shved had 20 for the Knicks.
Both teams entered this game at 14-53. New York’s loss gives them the worst record in the NBA.
Bonus Fact: Harden made 22 free throws. The Nuggets made 11 as a team.