Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden has been a force so far in this new NBA season. With Kawhi Leonard out, Harden had to take on a lot of responsibility for the Clippers and thrived in that role. Heading into Thursday night's game against the Phoenix Suns, Harden was averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 11.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game on 35.5/27/85.7 shooting splits.

Harden did his best to increase those averages early in Thursday's game, in the first quarter alone. Entering this game, Harden ranked second in the NBA in assists per game (just behind Trae Young with 0.3 assists).

Harden did a lot of everything in the first quarter on Thursday and made NBA history:

Via @TomerAzarly (StatHead of h/t Basketball Reference): “James Harden made history in the 1st quarter against the Suns: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks. First player since record keeping began in 1996-97 to record these numbers in a quarter.”

Many people had written off the Clippers when they lost Paul George, and the criticism grew louder when it was announced that Kawhi Leonard would be out for an extended period. Harden took the opportunity to prove that he is still capable of leading a team on his own while making history at the same time.

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