Harden joins elite scoring list

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — James Harden moved into the top 10 on the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) all-time scoring list on Saturday, but his 34 points weren’t enough to lift the struggling Los Angeles Clippers in a 109-106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Harden, 36, came into the contest needing 20 points to knock Carmelo Anthony out of the No. 10 spot with 28,289 points.

After scoring 19 points before halftime, he surpassed Anthony with four minutes left in the third quarter.

Harden is one of only three active players in the top 10, along with No. 8 Kevin Durant of Houston and 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James who tops the list at 42,268 after surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) in 2023.

Harden, now in his 17th season, was the NBA’s leading scorer for three consecutive seasons from 2017 to 2020.

But “The Beard” has never won a title and the Clippers have made a disastrous start to the season — at 6-18 they are second-from bottom in the West.

On Saturday LA led by as many as 18 but couldn’t hold off a Timberwolves team led by 27 points from Jaden McDaniels and 24 from Julius Randle.

In other games, Atlanta forward Jalen Johnson delivered his second triple-double in as many nights as the Hawks beat the Wizards in Washington 131-116.

Johnson scored 30 points and added 12 rebounds and 12 assists to fuel the Hawks offense in the absence of injured All-Star point guard Trae Young.

One night earlier Johnson had secured a triple-double before the first half ended, but the Hawks came up on the losing end against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

The injury-hit Golden State Warriors shocked the Cavaliers 99-94 in Cleveland.

With shooting star Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Al Horford, Jimmy Butler, De’Anthony Melton and Seth Curry all sidelined by injury, Pat Spencer got his first NBA start and led the Warriors with a career-high 19 points.