In the aftermath of Luka Doncic’s scoring show against the Hawks at State Farm Arena on Friday night, when he scored 73 points, here’s a look inside the feat of scoring at least 70 in an NBA game, a mark that has been accomplished 15 times, by 10 players.
-Elgin Baylor of the Lakers was the first player to do it, with 71 points against the Knicks on Nov. 15, 1960. He held the record for a little more than a year.
-After Baylor put up 71, Wilt Chamberlain reached 70 or more six times before another player scored that many. In fact, Chamberlain (six total) is the only player who has scored 70 or more in a game more than once.
-Chamberlain holds the NBA record for points in a game, with 100 against the Knicks on March 2, 1962. Kobe Bryant is the only other player to score 80 in a game (81 vs. the Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006).
-Chamberlain’s six games with 70 or more, all with the then-Philadelphia Warriors, occurred in a span of 15 months and two days, from Dec. 8, 1961 to March 10, 1963.
Here are those six games:
78-Dec. 8, 1961 vs. the Lakers (L, 3OT)
73-Jan. 13, 1962 vs. the Chicago Packers (W)
100-March 2, 1962 vs. the Knicks (W)
72-Nov. 3, 1962 vs. the Lakers (L)
73-Nov. 16, 1962 vs. the Knicks (W)
70-March 10, 1963 vs. the Syracuse Nationals (L)
-Chamberlain and Baylor are the only players to combine at least 25 rebounds with 70 points. Baylor recorded 25 on the night he scored 71. Chamberlain had 25 rebounds to go with his 100 points, 36 with his 73 points against the Packers and 43 with his 78 points against the Lakers.
-After Chamberlain’s final 70-point game, no NBA player scored that many until David Thompson of the Nuggets scored 73 in a loss to the Pistons on April 9, 1978.
-Since Thompson scored his 73, seven players have reached the 70-point mark, two of those coming this season and two in the 2022-23 season. Here are the seven:
Kobe Bryant (Lakers)-81 on Jan. 22, 2006, a victory against the Raptors
Luka Doncic (Mavericks)-73 on Jan. 26, 2024, a victory against the Hawks
Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)-71 on Jan. 2, 2023, an overtime victory against the Bulls
Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)-71 on Feb. 26, 2023, a victory against the Rockets
David Robinson (Spurs)-71 on April 24, 1994, a victory against the Clippers
Devin Booker (Suns)-70 on March 24, 2017, a loss against the Celtics
Joel Embiid (76ers)-70 on Jan. 22, 2024, a victory against the Spurs
-Embiid and Doncic hit the 70-mark four days apart, the closest together of the 15 games and nine days closer than the 13 days between Chamberlain’s two games in November 1962.
-A bonus note: Chamberlain scored 60 or more points 32 times.
NBA players with 70 more points in a game
100 Wilt Chamberlain (Warriors) March 2, 1962
81 Kobe Bryant (Lakers) Jan. 22, 2006
78 Wilt Chamberlain (Warriors) Dec. 8, 1961
73 Wilt Chamberlain (Warriors) Jan. 13, 1962
73 Wilt Chamberlain (Warriors) Nov. 16, 1962
73 David Thompson (Nuggets) April 9, 1978
73 Luka Doncic (Mavs) Jan. 26, 2024
72 Wilt Chamberlain (Warriors) Nov. 3, 1962
71 Elgin Baylor (Lakers) Nov. 15, 1960
71 David Robinson (Spurs) April 24, 1994
71 Donovan Mitchell (Cavs) Jan. 2, 2023
71 Damian Lillard (Blazers) Feb. 26, 2023
70 Wilt Chamberlain (Warriors) March 10, 1963
70 Devin Booker (Suns) March 24, 2017
70 Joel Embiid (76ers) Jan. 22, 2024
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