Was James Harden’s 60-point triple-double on Tuesday night — the first of its kind in NBA history — the greatest individual game ever?

Probably not. (Rest easy, Wilt Chamberlain.) According to Basketball-Reference.com’s Game Score metric, it was only the fifth-best game since the 1983-84 season. However, by one definition, it might have been among the most optimal games the NBA has ever seen.

Specifically, Harden’s performance is tied for the most Pareto-optimal game ever. What does that mean? We’ve written about it before, but Pareto optimality is helpful for thinking about how to get the most value in a situation that requires trade-offs. For example, if you’re buying a car and you want to maximize size and speed, you could start by ruling out any car that is both smaller and slower than at least one other car. The remaining cars would be maximized for size, maximized for speed, or have a balance of the two qualities, where the cars couldn’t get any bigger without also getting slower, or couldn’t get any faster without also getting smaller. When you can’t gain in one quality without sacrificing another, that’s called the Pareto frontier.

We can use the principle of Pareto optimality to analyze basketball players’ performance. Rather than thinking about size and speed, we can think about stats — specifically points, assists and rebounds. A player has a Pareto game if no other player has ever posted better numbers in all three stats in a single game. Certainly other players have scored more points than Harden in a single game, and some have done so with more assists or more rebounds. But no player has beaten him in all three categories at the same time.

Harden’s performance is hardly the only Pareto game in NBA history. Using data compiled from Basketball-Reference.com and NBAStats.net, we were able to find at least 125 such games since the 1946-47 season.

The key to having a Pareto game is either maxing out one category — think Scott Skiles’s 30-assist game from 1990 — or finding an unassailable mix of all three, like Harden did Tuesday. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the all-time master of both techniques is Chamberlain, who had 51 total Pareto games that ranged from his legendary 100-point outing to history’s only 20-20-20 triple-double and a 55-rebound game that also stands as the all-time single-game record for boards. (The sheer number of Pareto games that Chamberlain has to his name is especially impressive because a player who originally achieves a Pareto game can later lose that status if another player tops him in all three categories.)

All 125 Pareto-optimal NBA games since 1946 All games since the 1946-47 NBA season for which there was no other game with a superior combination of points, assists and rebounds Player ▲ ▼

date ▲ ▼

Team ▲ ▼

Vs. ▲ ▼

PTS. ▲ ▼

Assists ▲ ▼

REB ▲ ▼

James Harden 1/30/18 HOU ORL 60 11 10 Rajon Rondo 12/27/17 NO BKN 2 25 7 James Harden 11/5/17 HOU UTAH 56 13 2 Russell Westbrook 3/29/17 OKC ORL 57 11 13 Devin Booker 3/24/17 PHX BOS 70 6 8 James Harden 12/31/16 HOU NY 53 17 16 Russell Westbrook 12/17/16 OKC PHX 26 22 11 Rajon Rondo 1/5/11 BOS SA 12 23 10 Rajon Rondo 10/29/10 BOS NY 10 24 10 Ramon Sessions 4/14/08 MIL CHI 20 24 8 Kobe Bryant 1/22/06 LAL TOR 81 2 6 Steve Nash 1/2/06 PHX NY 28 22 5 Jamaal Tinsley 11/22/01 IND WSH 19 23 11 Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf 11/15/95 DEN PHX 30 20 8 David Robinson 4/24/94 SA LAC 71 5 14 Sherman Douglas 4/3/94 BOS PHI 27 22 8 Scott Skiles 12/30/90 ORL DEN 22 30 6 Michael Jordan 3/28/90 CHI CLE 69 6 18 Magic Johnson 1/9/90 LAL PHX 24 24 6 Magic Johnson 11/17/89 LAL DEN 24 24 8 Magic Johnson 4/23/89 LAL SEA 29 21 9 Fat Lever 4/21/89 DEN GS 15 23 13 Magic Johnson 4/18/89 LAL DEN 24 17 17 Michael Jordan 1/21/89 CHI PHX 53 8 14 Magic Johnson 11/28/88 LAL PHI 32 20 11 Magic Johnson 4/20/88 LAL DAL 8 23 10 Magic Johnson 3/22/87 LAL SAC 33 19 12 Nate McMillan 2/23/87 SEA LAC 8 25 8 Magic Johnson 5/7/85 LAL POR 34 19 9 Isiah Thomas 2/13/85 DET DAL 23 25 5 Isiah Thomas 2/7/85 DET WSH 25 24 10 Magic Johnson 12/18/84 LAL ATL 25 20 14 Isiah Thomas 12/13/83 DET DEN 47 17 5 Magic Johnson 1/15/83 LAL ATL 13 21 17 Magic Johnson 1/5/83 LAL PHI 23 20 12 Magic Johnson 3/29/81 LAL DEN 33 17 15 Micheal Ray Richardson 3/21/81 NY CLE 27 19 15 Kevin Porter 2/27/79 DET CHI 32 22 5 Phil Ford 2/21/79 KCK MIL 26 22 5 David Thompson 4/9/78 DEN DET 73 2 7 Pete Maravich 2/25/77 NOJ NY 68 6 6 Pete Maravich 1/17/75 NOJ SEA 42 17 10 Rick Barry 3/26/74 GS POR 64 9 10 Ernie DiGregorio 1/1/74 BUF POR 20 25 9 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2/18/72 MIL PHI 53 9 13 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2/9/72 MIL CLE 53 8 14 Wilt Chamberlain 2/9/69 LAL PHX 66 4 27 Wilt Chamberlain 3/19/68 PHI CIN 22 19 27 Wilt Chamberlain 3/18/68 PHI LAL 53 14 32 Wilt Chamberlain 3/5/68 PHI SDR 31 15 21 Wilt Chamberlain 2/23/68 PHI DET 31 12 32 Wilt Chamberlain 2/14/68 PHI SEA 35 15 24 Wilt Chamberlain 2/4/68 PHI SFW 19 16 27 Wilt Chamberlain 2/2/68 PHI DET 22 21 25 Wilt Chamberlain 12/20/67 PHI SEA 53 6 38 Wilt Chamberlain 12/16/67 PHI CHI 68 2 34 Wilt Chamberlain 4/16/67 PHI SFW 10 10 38 Wilt Chamberlain 4/11/67 PHI BOS 29 13 36 Wilt Chamberlain 4/5/67 PHI BOS 20 9 41 Wilt Chamberlain 3/31/67 PHI BOS 24 13 32 Wilt Chamberlain 3/24/67 PHI CIN 16 19 30 Wilt Chamberlain 3/2/67 PHI SFW 24 13 38 Wilt Chamberlain 2/28/67 PHI CIN 28 9 36 Wilt Chamberlain 12/26/66 PHI CIN 38 10 32 Wilt Chamberlain 12/23/66 PHI LAL 24 14 26 Wilt Chamberlain 11/26/66 PHI DET 26 15 24 Wilt Chamberlain 11/11/66 PHI CHI 37 7 33 Oscar Robertson 3/5/66 CIN NY 44 22 8 Wilt Chamberlain 3/3/66 PHI SFW 62 3 37 Wilt Chamberlain 2/7/66 PHI LAL 65 2 29 Wilt Chamberlain 1/14/66 PHI BOS 37 6 42 Wilt Chamberlain 12/28/65 PHI BOS 31 6 40 Wilt Chamberlain 4/6/65 PHI BOS 30 8 39 Bill Russell 3/11/65 BOS DET 27 6 49 Wilt Chamberlain 3/6/65 PHI BOS 27 8 43 Oscar Robertson 1/6/65 CIN NY 28 16 20 Oscar Robertson 12/28/64 CIN SFW 35 20 8 Oscar Robertson 12/18/64 CIN LAL 56 12 9 Wilt Chamberlain 11/26/64 SFW PHI 63 3 32 Wilt Chamberlain 3/18/64 SFW PHI 36 8 33 Wilt Chamberlain 3/14/64 SFW LAL 55 8 14 Oscar Robertson 3/5/64 CIN BOS 27 17 15 Oscar Robertson 2/14/64 CIN NY 29 21 11 Oscar Robertson 2/12/64 CIN DET 38 14 18 Wilt Chamberlain 1/28/64 SFW PHI 59 9 13 Wilt Chamberlain 3/10/63 SFW SYR 70 3 18 Wilt Chamberlain 3/3/63 SFW CIN 45 10 33 Oscar Robertson 2/19/63 CIN BOS 35 17 17 Wilt Chamberlain 2/19/63 SFW LAL 39 7 36 Wilt Chamberlain 11/9/62 SFW CHI 54 7 27 Wilt Chamberlain 10/30/62 SFW NY 59 6 35 Guy Rodgers 10/26/62 SFW DET 23 17 20 Wilt Chamberlain 3/4/62 PHI NY 58 4 35 Wilt Chamberlain 3/2/62 PHI NY 100 2 25 Oscar Robertson 2/20/62 CIN SLH 31 16 20 Oscar Robertson 2/17/62 CIN DET 30 18 15 Wilt Chamberlain 2/17/62 PHI SLH 67 2 28 Oscar Robertson 2/13/62 CIN PHI 42 18 15 Wilt Chamberlain 2/13/62 PHI CIN 65 4 22 Oscar Robertson 2/10/62 CIN SLH 32 16 21 Oscar Robertson 1/11/62 CIN PHI 38 19 12 Oscar Robertson 12/11/61 CIN CHI 32 20 15 Elgin Baylor 12/8/61 LAL PHI 63 7 31 Wilt Chamberlain 12/8/61 PHI LAL 78 1 43 Oscar Robertson 11/21/61 CIN PHI 25 18 16 Wilt Chamberlain 11/21/61 PHI CIN 45 6 34 Oscar Robertson 10/29/61 CIN SYR 26 22 11 Elgin Baylor 2/22/61 LAL BOS 38 14 24 Oscar Robertson 2/22/61 CIN PHI 39 18 15 Oscar Robertson 2/19/61 CIN LAL 43 20 9 Wilt Chamberlain 1/21/61 PHI LAL 56 0 45 Wilt Chamberlain 1/3/61 PHI DET 46 6 33 Wilt Chamberlain 11/29/60 PHI LAL 44 7 38 Wilt Chamberlain 11/24/60 PHI BOS 34 4 55 Elgin Baylor 11/15/60 LAL NY 71 1 25 Wilt Chamberlain 2/6/60 PHI SYR 44 3 45 Bill Russell 2/5/60 BOS SYR 23 5 51 Wilt Chamberlain 1/25/60 PHI DET 58 4 42 Wilt Chamberlain 1/15/60 PHI BOS 44 2 43 Wilt Chamberlain 1/13/60 PHI SYR 42 5 39 Wilt Chamberlain 11/10/59 PHI NY 39 4 43 Elgin Baylor 11/8/59 MIN BOS 64 8 17 Bob Cousy 2/27/59 BOS MIN 31 28 5 Bill Russell 11/16/57 BOS PHI 28 4 49 Maurice Stokes 1/14/56 ROC SYR 26 12 38 Sources: Basketball-Reference.com, NBAStats.net

Among active players, nobody comes especially close to Wilt’s Pareto record. (That’s actually a colossal understatement.) But Harden is tied with Rajon Rondo for the active lead with three Pareto games apiece, while Russell Westbrook is close behind with two in his career. In fact, Harden’s picked up two this year already: He also recorded one on Nov. 5, when he had 56 points, 13 assists and 2 rebounds against the Utah Jazz. Rondo also notched his third career Pareto game this season, with 25 assists, 7 boards and 2 points (!) against Brooklyn on Dec. 27.

We’re not necessarily saying a Pareto game is the best kind of game; certainly there are other important considerations — such as shooting efficiency, turnovers and defense — that aren’t reflected in a player’s basic point, rebound and assist tallies. But as far as basketball’s traditional bedrock stats go, it’s really valuable when somebody maxes out all three categories at once. And moreover, it’s just flat-out cool to watch a player post a statistical combo that nobody’s ever produced before, which is what Harden treated us stat nerds to this week.