James Harden climbed into the NBA’s top 10 all-time scorers with 34 points on Saturday, but that wasn't enough to save his struggling side, the Los Angeles Clippers, from 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.
A 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.
A 33-point second period put the Warriors in control, and they were up by 13 with 5:17 remaining.
The Cavaliers, led by 29 points from Donovan Mitchell, cut the deficit to two with less than a minute left, but the Warriors held on, Mitchell missing a three-pointer in the waning seconds.
Eastern Conference leaders Detroit downed the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks 124-112.
Cade Cunningham scored 23 points and handed out 12 assists and Jalen Duren added 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons.
Kevin Porter Jr. scored 32 points to pace the Bucks, who are without two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo because of a calf strain.
The Sacramento Kings, fueled by a season-high 42 points from Zach LaVine, beat the Heat 127-111 in Miami.
LaVine made eight of Sacramento's 14 3-pointers and the 6-17 Kings posted their first double-digit win of the season.
