Ranking the NBA’s top 10 50-point performances of a historic season: Luka Doncic or Donovan Mitchell tops?

If it feels like there’s been an influx of scoring across the NBA, it’s because it has. It’s become commonplace for men to score 25 or more points each night. players, and two players (LeBron James and Luka Doncic) crossed the 40-point threshold.

In the past, those 40-point performances were celebrated for days, but in today’s NBA, they can lose the next night. He has 16 players with 50 or more points this season, and six games in which he has scored 55 or more points is his NBA record in a single season. We haven’t even reached the All-Star break, so that number is almost guaranteed to increase.

With individual offensive performances having an unprecedented season, it makes sense to look back at some of these historic games and rank them among the 10 best of all time.

Statistics line: 52 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 68 FG%

Siakam is arguably the most underrated player on this list, and against the Knicks in December, he showed why his game should be respected. The Raptors forward displayed a versatile postgame, beating out some of New York’s bigs for second-chance opportunities. showed. Siakam is averaging a career-high 25.2 points in Toronto this season, and while the Raptors struggled to find consistency, 6.9 his foot forward was as automatic as ever.

Statistics line: 53 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 62 FG%

In this 76ers matchup, the formula was simple. Giving the ball to Embiid, Mason demoralizes his Plumlee. This is just a feat of pure dominance by Embiid over a Hornets team that was clearly inferior in every way. Charlotte doesn’t have the size or strength to fight a big man. As a result, Embiid was away every time he went down the floor. But it wasn’t just Embiid’s post-his scoring that gave the Hornets nightmares. Crazy enough, this isn’t even Embiid’s most impressive scoring performance this season, but more on that below.

Statistics line: 54 points 8 rebounds 3 assists FG53% 3P47%

Thompson probably has one of the best stat lines in NBA history. As you know, in 2016 he scored 60 points with 11 dribbles. It’s still ridiculous, this performance isn’t up to the mark, but one of those things, even after 7 years, with a torn ACL and a torn Achilles, is that Thompson is still that guy. was shown.

The Warriors star knocked down 10 3-pointers in that game. He has scored his three shots of 10 or more in most games in league history, second only to Stephen in his Curry. Thompson’s 14 3-pointers against the Bulls in 2018 are also the most in a single game.

Statistics line: 58 points 6 rebounds 5 assists FG60% 3P50%

Booker’s 58 points against New Orleans was classic revenge. Rewind to just a week before Booker’s offensive outburst and you’ll see the Pelicans beat the Suns in back-to-back games.In that first Suns loss, Zion Williamson Awkward 360 Windmill Dunk As the clock ticked down, Suns players didn’t appreciate it. Booker also scored only 14 points in that contest. In the second game, Booker sat down and watched his team lose again to the Pelicans.

With the table set for a thrilling matchup between the two teams, Booker gave the Pelicans a big slice of the modest pie. Booker shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep, but he could have finished the game with more than 60 points if he hadn’t taken 10 of 15 from the line. .

Statistics line: 55 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 60 FG%

The 55 points Antetokounmpo scored against the Wizards was impressive in and of itself, but the fact that it came at the end of a three-game stretch and scored over 40 points in the previous two games made it stand out. I’m in another world. This 40-point streak, combined with 10 or more total rebounds in each, gave Giannis his 40th in three straight games since his 1976-77 NBA-ABA merger. -becoming his third player to record 10 games.

We’ve grown accustomed to seeing Antetokounmpo tear down defenses with big strides downhill, and that night against the Wizards was no exception. Giannis made everything look easy as he went 24-18 in the restricted area, bullying the Washington heavyweights.

5. Devin Booker vs. Bulls, Nov. 30

Statistics line: 51 points 6 assists 4 rebounds FG80% 3P85%

Booker’s 58 points against the Pelicans was a good revenge play, but his performance against the Bulls was even better. By just three quarters, Booker scored 51 points on 20 of his 25 shots from the field. That efficiency, while scoring 50 or more points, has only occurred eight other times in NBA history. became the only player to accomplish the feat.

But what makes Booker’s performance more impressive than anyone else on that historic list is the fact that it took him just 31 minutes to make it. Narrowing that list down even further, Booker posted his line of stats with at least 50 points and he had five assists. It shows that you were doing more than that.

Statistics line: 55 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocks, 73 FG%

Davis played his best game against the Wizards in a Lakers uniform. He has also joined numerous Lakers franchise roster, including Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, and Wilt Chamberlain, just to name a few.

Davis’ performance against Washington highlighted a dominant stretch in early-season games just before he went down with another injury. It also proved that the Lakers are a completely different team when he and James are both healthy.

3. Joel Embiid vs. Jazz, Nov. 13

Statistics line: 59 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 7 blocks, 67 FG%

Embiid has appeared on this list before, but this performance greatly surpasses it. During a hard-fought match with jazz, Embiid created masterpieces typically found only in museums and concert halls. He became the first player in NBA history to record his 50 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks in one game.

The rarity of Embiid’s stat line speaks to his dominance. In fact, Embiid was the only Sixers player to score more than one point in the fourth quarter of that game, and in the final frame of action he scored 26 of his 59 points. If that sounds silly, it’s because it is. His 26 points in his last 12 minutes for Embiid is his eighth-highest scoring total in the fourth quarter in league history.

Statistics line: 71 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 64 FG%, 783P%

Mitchell is the owner of the season’s highest scoring total, and his 71 points is also the highest total since Kobe Bryant scored 81 in 2006. He is also the seventh player in league history to cross the 70-point threshold. This wasn’t just stat padding performance. The Cavaliers needed every bucket Mitchell scored to recover from a 21-point deficit and hold off the Bulls in overtime.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Mitchell’s performance was Deliberately missed a free throw, he grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a bucket in the final seconds to send the game into overtime. Mitchell then outscored the Bulls 13–4 in overtime to seal the win for the Cavaliers.

1. Luka Doncic vs. Knicks, Dec. 27

Statistics line: 60 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, 67 FG%

There are some very good performances on this list, and I bounced back and forth between this one and Mitchell’s 71-point No. 1 spot performance. But while Mitchell’s game was impressive, frankly, I’d never seen anything quite like Doncic’s 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists on a night against the Knicks. .

Here are some numbers to prove how ridiculous the stats line is.

1. First player in NBA history with 60 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists
2. Second 60-point triple-double in history (James Harden, 60-11-10)
3. 60 points, 20 rebounds since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000

Doncic did something that no one in NBA history has done. Even Chamberlain’s numbers often feel more like a clerical error than a realistic statistical line. What’s even wilder is that this came two days after Doncic’s 50-point blowout of his, and also two days before him on his 51-point night at the All-Star Guard. Doncic’s performance is already at the top of what has been a season of volatility in scoring, but there are still many games left for other players to come out on top.