
USA Today via Reuters
Jan 24, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) hug after the game at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

USA Today via Reuters
Jan 24, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) hug after the game at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Tonight was a wild night in the NBA. Fans witnessed one of the greatest scoring exhibitions by two of the most lethal scorers in the league. Luka Doncic went off for a career-high 73 points to bag the highest-scoring game since Kobe Bryant’s 81-point performance in 2006. Luka’s rival Devin Booker also had a historic night as he put up an incredible 62-point performance against the Indiana Pacers.
Luka and Booker’s historic performances on the same night prompted a bold prediction from Chicago Bulls superstar DeMar DeRozan. After witnessing Luka and Booker’s scoring outburst, DeRozan tweeted, “Somebody going to score a 100 before the season over!”
Somebody going to score a 100 before the season over!
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) January 27, 2024
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2-time All-Star Isaiah Thomas backed DeRozan’s prediction and replied, “For sure!!!”
For sure!!!! https://t.co/KAYKKo6h6w
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) January 27, 2024
That feat has only been achieved one time in NBA history. Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain is the only player to score 100 points in an NBA game. He set that record on March 2, 1962, when he led the Philadelphia Warriors to a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks. Even though it seems outrageous to think that a player would be able to do that again, the recent performances in the NBA suggest otherwise.
The league has seen four 60+ point and two 70+ point performances this week alone. Just like Luka and Booker’s 73 and 62-point outburst tonight, Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns achieved a similar feat on Monday.
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Will DeMar DeRozan’s prediction come true?
Joel Embiid set a new season-high in scoring earlier this week after he went off for 70 points against Victor Wembanyama and Co. On the same night, Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Karl-Anthony Towns scored 62 points in a devastating loss to the Charlotte Hornets. Just 4 days later, Luka Doncic broke Embiid’s record to set a new season high of 73 points.
In a coincidental event, Devin Booker scored 62 points just like KAT on Monday, while his team lost to the Pacers. With the way the offense moves in today’s NBA and the amount of threes players are allowed to shoot, a 100-point performance does not seem too farfetched.
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A thing to note is that all the aforementioned performances were achieved in the regular playing time. If the game goes to overtime or multiple overtimes, and a superstar is having a great scoring night, DeRozan’s prediction could easily come true. Luka had 73 points with 1 minute remaining in the 4th quarter. Had the game gone to overtime, he could have easily added 10-15 more points. That would at least have broken Kobe’s 18-year-old record of 81 points. Do you believe a player will ever score 100 points in the NBA again?
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