Digging into James Harden's prolific scoring streak has uncovered an even more unusual anomaly.
Harden had gone six games without scoring coming off an assist. The abundance of unassisted points, a statistic tracked by NBA.com, was unprecedented.
He totaled 304 points between assisted baskets, which coincidentally formed bookends in games against the Magic.
In Orlando on Jan. 13, Clint Capela passed to Harden for a bucket. On Sunday night, with 6:33 left in the first quarter, Kenneth Faried, Capela's fill-in at center, fed Harden for a floater in the lane.
Ongoing fascination with the stat has inspired criticism that Harden's scoring style, devoid of ball movement around the arc or into the lane, is not exciting to watch—even though Harden has proven his isolation wizardry for years and been celebrated for honing a setback jumper, which inherently is unassisted.