Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

James Harden Reveals Motivation Behind Recent 50-Point Game for Clippers

Originally posted on The Spun | By Divij Kulkarni | Last updated Mar 20, 2025 4:54 PM ET

James Harden has been turning back the clock this season, and he's led the Los Angeles Clippers to being in the thick of the battle for the 6th seed and automatic playoff qualification. And while NBA stars don't usually need extra motivation, Harden had some in an early March game against the Detroit Pistons.

Malik Beasley went live with streamer N3ON in February and during the stream, mentioned that it isn't tough to guard James Harden. On March 5th, Harden answered by dropping 50 points against Beasley's team, the Detroit Pistons, in a 123-115 win. And he recently revealed that it was because he saw what Beasley had to say about him.

James Harden says he watched Malik Beasley call him the easiest person to guard in the league while on NEON’s stream so he went out and dropped 50 points on him pic.twitter.com/8IydWHYNNF
— ryan (@scubaryan_) March 20, 2025

James Harden and his entourage ran into N3ON at an event, and a clip from their interaction has gone viral on social media. The streamer acknowledged that he had done a stream with Beasley and called him 'my guy.' To which James Harden said, "He was talking sh*t, huh?"

One of Harden's companions then reminded N3ON that Beasley called Harden one of the easiest players to guard in the NBA, to which Harden added, "I dropped 50." Clearly, the Beard had to make a point once he was made aware of the disrespect.

Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson (9) defends against LA Clippers guard James Harden (1) during the second half at Little Caesars Arena.Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images

James Harden shot 58.3% from the field and 46.2% from three-point range in that game against the Pistons, making it an extremely efficient scoring performance too. The Beard is averaging 22.5 points per game for the season, but the former MVP showed why he is a 3-time NBA scoring champion that night.

With streaming and podcasts becoming popular mediums in today's landscape, fans have greater access to current players more than ever before. But this story just goes to show that players need to be careful about the things they say during appearances.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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