Playing at Madison Square Garden and in front of its fans was special for James Harden. "I'm just happy to give them 61," he said. (0:55)

Harden on career-high 61 points: 'At The Garden? I'll take it.' (0:55)

NEW YORK -- On Tuesday, James Harden said he was still looking for his Madison Square Garden moment.

The Houston Rockets star created it on Wednesday night.

Harden scored a career-high 61 points, tying Kobe Bryant's mark for a visiting player at the current Madison Square Garden, as the Rockets edged the New York Knicks 114-110.

"This is one of the historical buildings in the sport that we have," Harden said. "Obviously, the fans are one of the best that we have in this league. And so it's pretty cool to come out here and put on a show for them."

Harden made the clinching layup with 3.8 seconds remaining after the Knicks turned it over, capping his fifth 50-point game this season and a wild stretch of back-and-forth basketball across the final minutes.