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James Harden gave a soon-to-be 100-year-old Rockets fan the game ball after beating the Bucks

James Harden continued his brilliant 2016-17 campaign on Wednesday night, scoring a game-high 38 points on 14-for-25 shooting to lead his Houston Rockets to a 111-92 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Harden added eight rebounds, six assists and two blocks in his 36 minutes of work, keying the 18-0 second-quarter run that broke the game open and scoring 22 after halftime to keep the Bucks at bay.

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After a night like that, and Harden’s had a lot of them this season, you get the game ball. On Wednesday, though, Harden decided to share the rock — which he’s been doing more frequently than anybody else in the league this season — with a female fan named Lucy Pierce sitting courtside, who was celebrating a pretty amazing milestone:

“Well, today’s her 100th birthday, so it’s a blessing,” Harden told ESPN’s Doris Burke during a postgame interview. “You know, she’s excited, she’s sitting on the court. She kept smiling over there. I had to go give her the game ball and tell her how blessed she is and I am for meeting her.”

(Harden was a few days off; according to NBA Entertainment photographer Bill Baptist, “Ms. Pierce will be 100 years old on Saturday, January 21.” But the Rockets will be out of town on the 21st, playing in Memphis, so let’s not quibble too much.)

As 100th birthday gifts go, a Rockets win, a game ball autographed by the front-runner in the NBA’s Most Valuable Player race, and a hug and a chat with Houston’s most famous beard-bearer (sorry, Dallas Keuchel) seems pretty good. I mean, it would’ve been even cooler if James hooked his new bestie Lucy up with a couple of pairs of Harden 1s and a fake beard, but hey, when it’s a spur-of-the-moment thing, you give the gifts you have on hand.

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Even though Harden was the one giving the present, though, he seemed to enjoy it at least as much as the recipient. Check out your man cheesing:

That, friends, is the smile of a man who is living “a dream,” who is locked into the greatest groove of his career, and who just couldn’t be enjoying himself more these days. After how dire things were in Houston last season, it’s pretty fun to see; we’re glad Lucy got to spend her centennial getting an up-close-and-personal look at it.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!