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James Harden figures his scoring streak can continue forever. And why shouldn’t he?

“I’m just trying to keep going. Nothing can slow me down,” Harden said on Monday night after scoring 44 points in the Houston Rockets’ 118-110 victory over the Phoenix Suns. “Nothing can stop me.”

He’s been right so far.

Harden has scored at least 30 points in 27 consecutive games, the third longest streak in NBA history. He joins Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Rick Barry as the only players to score 40 points or more 20 times in the first 50 games of a season.

His next opportunity to extend that string comes Wednesday night when the Rockets visit the Sacramento Kings.
The Rockets, who were without two starters against the Suns, lean on Harden in the tough times. They’ve won their last two games and are 31-22 and in fifth place in the NBA’s Western Conference.

Harden was the NBA’s MVP last season, when he averaged 30.4 points a game. Now he’s over 36 points a game while leading the league in average minutes played per game (37.5).

Harden has heard the criticism from Kobe Bryant that the Rockets cannot compete for the NBA title with a one-man offense. And Harden agrees. He said he’s doing what he’s doing while the Rockets are short-handed and expects their style to change during the playoffs.

“I have to ball-dominate with all of the injuries,” he said. “We have had the injuries throughout the course of the year. Right now he (Bryant) is probably right. This way that we are playing won’t happen in the playoffs, won’t get us where we want to go, but we haven’t had a full roster. Yet I am excited for that to come.”

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman