James Harden scores more points than the entire Brooklyn Nets in the first quarter

In Saturday night's game between the Houston Rockets and the Brooklyn Nets, NBA Superstar James Harden achieved an ultra-rare feat of scoring more than the opposing team in a quarter. Harden scored 22 points in the 1st quarter alone, while the entire Brooklyn Nets scored only 20. The game ended with the Rockets winning the game, 108-98.

Basketball fans were excited to see how a single player can dominate an entire team in the 5-vs-5 sport. One way to show it is if a player can score more points than the collective production of the other side. Even during Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game in March of 1962 against the New York Knicks, the Knicks were able to score 147 points. Harden partially achieved that feat on Saturday night, by scoring two points more than the opposing team in one quarter.

It is also not the first time Harden has done this. Early last March, Harden scored 27 points in the first quarter, and the San Antonio Spurs scored 24. That is three more points against a higher-ranked team.

Harden ended the game with 44 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks. His partner, Russell Westbrook, contributed 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Reserve Austin Rivers added 14 for the Rockets. They are scheduled for back-to-back games and will play against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night.

According to USA Today, it wasn't Harden's explosive offense that was the highlight of the game. Harden shot 17 of 27, including 6 of 10 in the three-point line. That's 63% field goal percentage. But, the real effort came from the entire team defence. It is the first time since November 13th that the Rockets held down an opponent to below 100 points. This season, the Rockets have been allowing their opponents to average 114.5 points against them. It makes them the 8th worst defensive team in the NBA. The Brooklyn Nets ranked higher with 111 points.

But they couldn't stop Harden last Saturday night. Harden rampaged all over the court as revenge after losing their Christmas day game against the worst team in the Western Conference, the heavily injured Golden State Warriors.