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Dallas Mavericks superstar guard Luka Doncic made NBA history on Tuesday night versus New York. Doncic finished with a career-high 60 points and 21 rebounds to go along with 10 assists. The Mavs also pulled off a miraculous 126-121 overtime comeback win after trailing by nine points with 33 seconds remaining.
With his historic performance, Doncic became the first player in NBA history to record a 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double. He also became the second player in NBA history to record a 60-point triple-double in general, joining former Houston Rockets superstar shooting guard James Harden.
So on that note, here is what went down when Harden recorded the first-ever 60-point triple-double back in 2018.
Looking back at James Harden’s NBA record-setting 60-point triple-double in 2018
On Jan. 30, 2018, James Harden led the shorthanded Houston Rockets to a 114-107 win over the Orlando Magic. Harden finished with 60 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists on 63.3% shooting in the victory. In doing so, Harden recorded the first 60-point triple-double in NBA history.
Harden’s historic performance saw him score 18 points in the fourth quarter. This included him scoring six straight points with the game tied at 107 late in the fourth. Those points would end up being the difference in the game.
Following his historic night, Harden spoke about how he gave Houston everything he had:
"I just gave it all I had tonight. We all did. We all fought for 48 minutes, we got key stops when we needed to and we made big shots."
However, Harden didn’t even realize he was the first player to ever record a 60-point triple-double. When told about the accomplishment, Harden said it felt good as he always tries to impact games any way he can:
"It's a good feeling, I guess. Just try to go out there and make an impact every single night on the game, however I can. Whether it's scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, whatever it is. And tonight I guess I was doing everything."
Meanwhile, then-Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni was in awe of Harden’s do-it-all performance. D'Antoni said:
"Amazing (and) topped it off with a four-point play at the end. But we had to have every minute from him."
The Rockets were missing key players like Chris Paul and Trevor Ariza at the time. They also lost shooting guard Eric Gordon mid-game, who was the team’s second-leading scorer at the time. So Harden had to play 46 minutes and 26 seconds of the 48 total minutes in the game for Houston to secure the victory. Then-Rockets wing Gerald Green said:
"I have never seen a performance like that. I caught myself just being a true fan throughout the whole game... what he did today was remarkable."
At the time, Harden’s 60 points also marked the highest single-game scoring total in Rockets franchise history. Harden surpassed former Rockets guard Calvin Murphy’s 57-point performance in 1978. He also surpassed his own career-high of 56 points he had set just two months earlier. However, Harden later went on to tie and beat his own record again with one 60-point game and two 61-point games for Houston in 2019.
Also read this: NBA players react to Luka Doncic's awe-inspiring performance: “That was a MyCareer type performance”, “There will be another statue in Dallas”
Or this: Listing the only players to have recorded 50/20/10 games in NBA history; featuring Luka Doncic
