James Harden surpasses Carmelo Anthony as NBA Top 10 scorer

Shooting guard James Harden moved into 10th place in all-time NBA scoring, unseating Carmelo Anthony, during Saturday's 109-106 Los Angeles Clippers loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

James Harden and the NBA's most iconic beard entered Saturday's top-10 all-time leading scorers.

The 36 year old former Rockets and Nets player needed 20 points against Minnesota to surpass the 28,289 career points scored by Carmelo Anthony.

After going into halftime with 19 points, Harden surpassed Melo ahead with four minutes left in the third quarter and finished the clash with a total of 34.

Among active players, only LeBron and Durant surpass "The Beard"

Besides the shooting guard, only two active players are part of that club: Kevin Durant (Rockets), who surpassed 31,000 points on Friday and ranks eighth, and LeBron James (Lakers), who holds the record of 42,268 at nearly 41 years old.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Michael Jordan (32.292), Dirk Nowitzki (31,560), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Shaquille O'Neal (28,596) are the other members of the top-10.

Embarking on his 17th season in the league, Harden captured top-scoring titles in three consecutive campaigns from 2018-2020 when he was at the helm of the Rockets.

With the achievement, Harden also joins the list of the NBA's all-time greats without a championship ring.

This season, his averages of 26.5 points and 8.4 assists have been insufficient to prevent a catastrophic start for the Clippers, who on Saturday conceded their 10th loss in their last 12 games in Minneapolis, leaving them second-to-last place in the Western Conference.

A three-pointer with 13 seconds left by Naz Reid when the game was tied at 104 clinched the game for Anthony Edwards, who had a quiet night with 15 points.

Jalen Johnson, triple threat

One of the performances of the day was that of Jalen Johnson in the Atlanta Hawks 131-116 victory over the Washington Wizards.

The power forward strung together his second consecutive triple double-double with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.

Johnson, 23, has taken over Atlanta's controls following Trae Young's injury and amassed four triple doubles on the campaign, second only to Nikola Jokic's 11 (Nuggets) and Josh Giddey's five (Bulls).

Anthony Davis wakes up

At the close of play in Dallas, the Mavericks were the unexpected winners of the Texan duel against the Houston Rockets 122-109.

Anthony Davis bounced back from a 2-point performance in a loss to Oklahoma City by scoring 29 points in a win over Houston, which played without injured center Alperen Şengün.

Houston's Kevin Durant scored 27 points to outduel Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg and his 19 points, leading the second-place Rockets to a win over a Dallas team outside the playoff race.