Luka Doncic makes NBA history with his record 73 points in a game

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N.B.A Day 89

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Luka Dončić made it even more difficult in a crazy week in which players around the NBA have been shooting baskets like crazy. The Dallas Mavericks player broke his personal and team records in a game for the ages. The Slovenian scored 73 points, the fourth-best record in NBA history, only surpassed by Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant. His performance helped the Mavericks to a 148-143 road win over the Atlanta Hawks this Friday.

Dončić's 73 points come the same week that Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, named the best player of the previous regular season, scored 70 points, also a team record, in Monday's game against the San Antonio Spurs, where he beat rookie Victor Wembanyama taught a lesson, even though he also played a good game. Embiid's 70 points was the season's record, but that record only lasted a few days.

The two players lead the list of the NBA's top scorers this season, with spectacular records. Embiid is averaging 36.0 points per game while Dončić is averaging 34.6 points. Both were selected to the All-Star starting quintet on February 18th. And both are among the candidates for the title of best player of the regular season, a tight competition that also includes Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Dončić's score this Friday is the highest in the NBA since Kobe Bryant's 81 points on January 22, 2006. The NBA record belongs to Wilt Chamberlain with 100 points, which he scored in a game with the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks in 1962. Chamberlain also scored 73 points in another game, the third-highest mark in NBA history, and scored 73 points in two others. Dončić is tied for fourth place with him and David Thompson, who scored the same number in a game in 1978 when he was a member of the Denver Nuggets.

Dončić was keen on his goal all night long. He made 25 of 33 field goals, including 8 of 13 three-pointers and 15 of 16 free throws. Rim shots, mid-range throws, baskets with additional free throws and acrobatic three-pointers followed one another as if nothing had happened. The Slovenian broke his record of 60 points in a game, which was also his team's previous record. The field goals scored were another personal record. In his 45 minutes played, he also scored 10 rebounds and gave 7 assists in a frame game. He became the fifth player in NBA history with at least 70 points and 10 rebounds in a game, joining Chamberlain (who did it six times), Elgin Baylor, David Robinson and Embiid, who did it on Monday.

The Slovenian player also broke the team record for most points scored in a half-game, thanks to 41 in the first half (18 in the first quarter and 23 in the second quarter). In that first half, he made 17 of 22 field goals, including 6 of 9 three-pointers. This surpassed the 34 in the second half of Dirk Nowitzki's game against the Utah Jazz on November 3, 2009.

Point series

Curiously, those 41 points were not the highest number of the week in the NBA in a half-game, as Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves scored 44 points in the first half against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. He finished the game with 62 points, the same day Embiid scored 70. This made Monday the fourth day in NBA history on which two players scored at least 60 points. The last time was April 9, 1978 (when David Thompson scored 73 points for Denver and George Gervin scored 63 for San Antonio in a title game on the final day of the season).

And this Friday… was the fifth. In addition to Dončić's 73 points, Devin Booker added 62 points for the Phoenix Suns this Friday. That means of the five times in NBA history that two players scored 60 points or more on the same day, two occurred this week. It looks like they made the rings bigger. NBA teams are averaging about 116 points per game this season, the highest average in the league since the 1969-70 season.

“There are some incredible players,” Doncic said Friday when asked about the recent string of great scoring performances. “There is so much talent in the NBA. I don't think there's ever been this much talent. I don't know because I haven't watched the NBA. But there's so much talent in the game that it's just crazy,” he added in statements obtained by the Associated Press.

“What’s happening in the NBA?! The league is on fire with another dominant performance. This time Luka Doncic! 73 points, wow! 🤯Congratulations to Luka for his incredible game with 73 points and 10 rebounds tonight,” Magic Johnson tweeted.

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