Throughout his illustrious career, James Harden has torched a lot of teams and the Sacramento Kings are no exception. However, the Kings shocked his Los Angeles Clippers yesterday after they won 123-107 on the road in the LA team’s home arena. Despite the loss, Harden had a stat line of 20 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. So, what are his career stats against the Kings?
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In 45 games against the Kings, Harden has amassed an elite average of 25.6 points, 6.8 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game. He has shot an impressive 46.2% from the field while draining 3.2 triples a game in 8.3 attempts, which amounts to 39%. As expected, his most impressive numbers came when he was a member of the Houston Rockets.
As a Rockets Guard, Harden tallied 32 points, 7.9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game on 47% shooting, nailing 4 triples a game on 39.9% shooting. Meanwhile, with his first team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, he put up 11.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game in 10 games.
As a member of the Brooklyn Nets, the Beard stacked up in three games an average of 20.7 points, 13.3 assists, and 10.3 rebounds on 41.1% shooting, while draining 44% of his attempts from the three-point line. As a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, he went up against the Kings just once. During that game, he had 21 points, 15 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals.
With his current team, the Clippers, Harden has gone against the Kings three times. During those games, he has contributed 20.3 points, 7.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 44.4% from the field and 31.8% from the deep.
In terms of high scores against the Kings, as a Thunder Guard, Harden had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in 2009. As a member of the Rockets, in terms of points, he had a career-high of 51 points. In terms of assists, a career-high of 15 assists, and in terms of rebounds, a career-high of 11. Meanwhile, with the Clippers, in terms of points, Harden had a score of 26 points earlier in the 2023-24 season. In terms of assists, he had 8 in their latest encounter.
Record-wise, Harden has come out on top during 36 of his 45 encounters against the Kings. With the Thunder, he won 8 out of 10 games played. As a Rockets Guard, he had a terrific 23-5 record. For the Nets, he managed two wins in three games, while with Philly he won the sole encounter. Meanwhile, as a Clippers player, the 34-year-old has punched home 2 wins in 3 games. If we take a peek at the current standings, his Clippers may end up facing the Kings in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
Will James Harden and the Clippers face the Kings in the first round?
In the current standings, with 37 wins and 19 losses, the Clippers are in the fourth spot. Meanwhile, with 33 wins and 23 losses, the Kings are at fifth. Therefore, as per the current seeding, the two Western Conference teams can end up clashing against each other. If that happens, it will be the first time that the Clippers will go up against the Kings in the postseason.
Meanwhile, the case will be similar for Harden, who never went against the Kings in the playoffs despite spending the majority of his career in the Western Conference. Kings never made the playoffs from 2006 to 2022, therefore, the 16-season-long playoff drought played a huge role in it. However, with a ton of games remaining, there are likely to be more shuffles in the Conference.
