In a 116-105 victory for the Los Angeles Clippers over Utah on Sunday night, James Harden moved into 2nd place in NBA history for 3-pointers made with 2,975.
With just over six minutes left in the 1st quarter, Harden refused the screen from teammate Ivica Zubac on the right wing, pulled up, and knocked down the shot that put him ahead of Hall of Famer Ray Allen.
“Unbelievable accomplishment,” Harden said of the 3-pointer he hit. “Just a testament to the amount of work that I’ve been putting in. As I get older and just chip away at an unbelievable career, [I] start to accomplish things like that. So I don’t ever want to take it for granted.”
“I just want to give motivation to the youth and every other person that’s chasing a dream to play professional basketball or whatever it is. So it’s an honor.”
He now trails superstar Steph Curry of the Warriors who LA will take on tonight in the second night of a back-to-back at the Intuit Dome. Curry currently sits at 3,782 and counting.
James Harden Is One Of The Greatest Shooters In NBA History
When asked if he thinks he would be able to catch Curry for the top spot:
“I’m one of the most confident guys that we have in this league,” James Harden said. “But no, I probably won’t catch Steph. And I don’t think anybody will honestly. … I don’t know man … he can shoot the s— out the ball. And granted a lot of these guys are on that list for [being] catch-and-shoot players, so they came off pin downs, they were spot shots or whatnot. Now, where the game has evolved, guys like Steph are coming off pin downs, he’s creating off isos, he’s coming off pick-and-rolls. So there’s so many different variables to be able to shoot the 3, make shots, and do it at an efficient high level.”
Those two are part of the same draft class in 2009 when Harden went No. 3 to Oklahoma City and Curry No. 7 to Golden State. But together, they have contributed to revolutionizing the way the game is played in today’s game, perimeter-oriented style, and how creative these players have become in scoring.
“To be a scorer, the way he can score at all three levels,” Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “And then be second all-time in 3-pointers made is crazy and a lot of tough 3s — off the dribble, step-backs, pocket 3s, pulling up off the dribble and pick-and-rolls and just to see what he’s accomplished.”
“Being a 2 guard when he came into the league and then transitioned to a point guard his whole career…that’s a crazy stat, a crazy accomplishment and I’m just happy for him.”
This historic mark proves to validate him amongst the top scorers in NBA history. James Harden accomplished this in just 1,086 games while Allen’s 2,973 number was accomplished through 1,300.
Chrys Henderson is a writer for LAFB. You can follow him on X @ChrysNBA.