With one three-pointer over Jalen Duren, at 7:39 in the first quarter, James Harden again moved the kind of stat almost nobody touches. The Cleveland Cavaliers were playing Game 6 of the second round of the playoffs against the Detroit Pistons, and Harden cracked the Top 10 all-time playoff scorers list in NBA history.

The three wasn't decoration. With it Harden passed Stephen Curry, who had been sitting at number ten on the all-time playoff scoring list. That's a tier where the names sound like a movie cast - Jordan, Kareem, LeBron - and now Harden, a former MVP who at 36 is still showing up deep in the playoffs, in his seventh straight run at the top of the league.

By halftime of Game 6, Harden had 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in 19 minutes on the floor. Not a star-line stat sheet, no - but that wasn't the point. The point is that at 36 Harden is still logging minutes in a do-or-die elimination series, and the points he scores still count for the standings, not for Instagram.

The Cavaliers trailed the Pistons 51:54 at halftime, and the series was hanging by a thread. Cleveland came into the season as East favorites, but as it often goes, paper numbers and real form are not the same. Now they are playing a Game 6 to survive - and Harden is part of the reason they're still fighting.

Whether the Cavaliers escape the series is the open question - but regardless, Harden has earned a place on a list there is no leaving. Top ten all-time NBA playoff scorers. That is something a player can talk about for many years after he hangs up his jersey.