James Harden Dropped a Career-High of 50 Points

Houston Rockets James Harden continues to prove to everyone why he deserves to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award this season.

During Thursday night's game against the Denver Nuggets, Harden dropped a career-high of 50 points. Roughly half of those points came from the free-throw line, reminding everyone once again how hard it is to defend the point guard without fouling.

Harden ended up making 22 of his 25 free throw attempts. He finished the night 12-for-27 from the field with 10 rebounds, four assists and one steal in 40 minutes. Harden's spectacular MVP-worthy performance led the Rockets to a 118-108 win.

Teammate Patrick Beverley definitely believes that Harden should be the MVP. Beverley interrupted Harden's post game interview and said, "That's what I'm talking about, MVP!"

"He got to the free-throw line a lot," guard Randy Foye said. "He made a lot of free throws and he did a good job. Obviously he's probably the MVP this year in the NBA. He did an unbelievable job of creating and also getting to the free-throw line." Here is a clip of Harden making a shot to get to 50:

"I looked up at the scoreboard and he had 45," Trevor Ariza said. "He scored 47 at the free-throw line so I had to get him the ball for 50. I've seen someone score 61 before."

Ariza was referencing Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who scored 61 points on Feb. 2, 2009 against the New York Knicks when Ariza played for the Lakers. Ariza finished the night with 17 points and six rebounds.

"My teammates are amazing. Trevor noticed what was going on in the game. He dribbled right at me and I said I'm going to let it fly," Harden said.

Not only did fans get to see Harden's impressive shots, members of the Rockets teams that won back-to-back championships were at the Toyota Center with NBA commissioner Adam Silver as well.

Watch the full highlights, provided by the NBA's official YouTube channel: