NBA players today have become ridiculously skilled.
Sometimes it’s nice to just take things easy and relax. Damian Lillard apparently disagrees.
On Monday, the Portland Trail Blazers superstar dropped 71 points on the Houston Rockets as he led his squad to a 131-114 victory. From a historical standpoint, Dame time became only the eighth NBA player ever to drop 70 points or more in a single game. This season, he tied Donovan Mitchell for the highest scoring output by an individual.
With that, check out our top five most impressive performances by an NBA star so far this season.
5. LeBron James - 48 points in year 20
Houston Rockets rookie Jabari Smith tried to clown LeBron’s age by saying that his dad had played against the four-time champ back in the day. Well, that little good-natured trash talk backfired big time. On Martin Luther King Day last January, the NBA’s 38-year-old scoring king hung 48 points and the W on the Rockets. Not impressed? Well, we’re just warming up.
4. Nikola Jokic - 40 points, 27 rebounds, 10 assists
The numbers that the Joker put up as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Charlotte Hornets last December sum up why he might just pull off the MVP hat trick. With the monstrous triple-double, Jokic entered Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor territory as the only NBA players to tally at least 35 points, 25 rebounds, and 10 assists in an NBA game. That's elite company, indeed.
3. Dame Lillard - 71 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists
Dame made scoring 71 look easy. It also helped that Houston’s defense wasn’t exactly textbook. Nonetheless, the future hall of famer displayed destructive firepower. He was even on pace to break Kobe Bryant’s 81-point night as the Blazers guard already had 41 markers at halftime.
2. Donovan Mitchell - 71 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists
Spida simply had more rebounds, more assists, and more crucial conversions in a tight game against the Chicago Bulls. During that contest, the Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard had to hit several big shots, including a putback off his own free-throw miss to force overtime. 55 of his 71 points also came in the second half as he dragged Cleveland past the visiting Bulls, 145-134. Put simply, Mitchell had a better 71-point game than Lillard
1. Luka Doncic - 60 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists
There are four guys who have scored 71 in the NBA. In contrast, only Luka Doncic has been able to post 60 points, 20 boards, and 10 dimes in league history. And he did it in incredible fashion. Down nine against the New York Knicks, the Slovenian superstar came up huge down the stretch.
To force OT, Doncic also made a putback off an intentional miss from the foul line. He danced like a five-year-old afterwards. It's all part of Luka Magic.
That's an impressive list, all right. But the thing is, this NBA season might even get wilder as it hits the homestretch. And that means we might see even bigger games from the league's biggest stars. So, it's best to tune in!