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What’s the record for most points by a player in an NBA game? Where does Doncic rank?

Luka Doncic’s 73-point display in the Mavericks’ win over the Hawks sees the Slovenian join NBA greats on the list of the highest single-game tallies.

William Allen
William AllenWAS_Allen
Luka Doncic’s 73-point display in the Mavericks’ win over the Hawks sees the Slovenian join NBA greats on the list of the highest single-game tallies.
ERIK S. LESSEREFE

Luka Doncic registered the joint-fourth highest points haul by an NBA player in the Dallas Mavericks’ 148-143 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, racking up a sensational 73 points as the Texans snapped a three-game losing streak.

In a sublime display that saw Doncic break the 70-point barrier for the first time in his NBA career, the Slovenian made 25 out of 33 field goals, including eight out of 13 three-point attempts, and sunk 15 out of 16 free throws.

Doncic up there with NBA legends after “unbelievable” feat

The 24-year-old shot 75.8% from the field, becoming the first player in the league ever to score more than 70 points with a shooting percentage over 75%. Including assists, he created a total of 100 points at State Farm Arena.

Doncic’s 73-point haul, which is a record for a European player in the NBA, has been bettered by only two men in the history of the competition: Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant.

Asked for his reaction to joining such illustrious figures in the NBA history books, Doncic said, per the NBA: “Those names are special. It’s unbelievable.”

What’s the highest ever single-game points total?

Chamberlain holds the record for the NBA’s highest single-game points tally, having registered the league’s only ever three-figure total. In March 1962, the two-time champion hit 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks.

The closest anyone has got to that incredible total is Kobe Bryant. The Los Angeles Lakers great, who died four years ago on Friday, scored 81 in the Lakers’ 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors in January 2006.

Chamberlain, whose career total of 31,419 points makes him the seventh-highest scorer in NBA history, also managed a 78-point game in 1961, in the Warriors’ 147-151 defeat to the Lakers.

Five highest single-game points totals in NBA history

  • 1. Wilt Chamberlain, Warriors: 100 (2 March 1962 vs Knicks)
  • 2. Kobe Bryant, Lakers: 81 (22 January 2006 vs Raptors)
  • 3. Wilt Chamberlain, Warriors: 78 (8 December 1961 vs Lakers)
  • 4. Wilt Chamberlain, Warriors: 73 (13 January 1962 vs Packers)
  • = Wilt Chamberlain, Warriors: 73 (16 November 1962 vs Knicks)
  • = David Thompson, Nuggets: 73 (9 April 1978 vs Pistons)
  • = Luka Doncic, Mavericks: 73 (26 January 2024 vs Hawks)
  • 8. Wilt Chamberlain, Warriors: 72 (3 November 1962 vs Lakers)

Doncic the third player to score 73 in NBA

Doncic’s performance on Friday puts him level with two more 73-point showings by Chamberlain - in January and November 1962 - and David Thompson’s tally for the Denver Nuggets in a 137-139 defeat to the Detroit Pistons in April 1978,

In all, only 10 players have surpassed the 70-point mark in an NBA game.

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