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Led by Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, and Donovan Mitchell, Shaquille O’Neal Bumps Into NBA’s 5-Ds With 70-Point Games

Published 08/05/2023, 12:53 AM EDT

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There are times when players tend to go off during games and score amazing numbers. One of the biggest games the modern NBA got to witness was Kobe Bryant going off for 81 points against the Toronto Raptors back in 2006. Since then, quite a few players have been able to achieve that feat, though not by the same number.

Shaquille O’Neal recently shared a stat on his Instagram honoring the five players who had 70-point games. This stat was led by Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Damian Lillard to name a few.

Shaquille O’Neal shares a peculiar stat

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There are only five players who are alive that have had 70-point games or more. To add to its fascination, all the players’ names start with the letter D. And two of the players are from the old-school league.

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The first one was David Thompson who went off for 73 points while he was playing for the Denver Nuggets. Alas, his 73-point games came in a 137-139 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

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This was followed by San Antonio Spurs legend David Robinson. Robinson scored 71 points in a 112-97 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers back in 1994.

Then came the modern-day stars like Devin Booker. The Phoenix Suns guard exploded for a 70-point game in a disappointing loss to the Boston Celtics.

And this past year, NBA fans got to witness two 71-point games by Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell. Both of their performances led their teams to victory when the final buzzer sounded.

Los Angeles Lakers legend, Shaquille O’Neal shared this stat on his Instagram stories. This post was originally created by ClutchPoints, stating the coincidence between these five players and their names.

Some other honorable mentions

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The list might have some living legends in it, but that does not mean that no other player has scored more than them. The majority of the fans already know about Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game.

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The only other players on this list are Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain. Baylor had a 71-point game back in 1960 against the New York Knicks. His performance led the Lakers to a 123-108 victory.

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Watch This Story: ‘He passed that Sunday’, Shaquille O’Neal reminisces the surreal moment when the world lost NBA legend, Kobe Bryant

And as for Wilt Chamberlain, he will always have that 100-point game that will stand tall for years to come. Apart from that, Wilt also had one 78-point game and two 73-point games to add to his resume.

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Written by:

Abhishek Dhariwal

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Abhishek Dhariwal is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports with a background in journalism and mass communication. Abhishek uses storytelling along with feedback gathering to curate elegant and exclusive content for ES. His writing covers a wide range of topics, from in-game coverage to off-court activities of NBA stars.
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Edited by:

Bilal Handoo