Who Else Has Achieved Incredible Michael Jordan Feat Just Matched by Superstar Suns Duo?
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Consistency is key. Very few NBA players have made history by being consistent. The Phoenix Suns get to boast that they have two such players included in a god-tier club for consistently scoring for the team. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined to extend the franchise record for consecutive games with 40-point scorers. Both are now in league with some legends, including Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Wilt Chamberlain are three other NBA superstars who scored 40+ points for six or more consecutive games. Booker, who holds the Suns record for most 40-point games, is gaining similar credibility. As is the case with most NBA records, Chamberlain stands well clear from the rest of the pack.
Book and KD in MJ and Kobe company here. Sheesh. pic.twitter.com/sVcmuPDGh3
— Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) January 29, 2024
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Wilt had two 14-game stretches in the 1961-62 season where he scored 40+ points in consecutive games. He also had a 10-game stretch the following season and multiple 5,6,7-game stretches. Excluding him and his unfathomable feats, Jordan and Bryant are tied with 9 each and it could get crowded there soon if the Phoenix duo match them.
Pre-championship MJ had 9 straight 40-point outings in the 1986-87 season after an injury curtailed 1985-86 season. During his rookie year, Jordan had 7 games with 40+ points. On the other hand, Kobe Bryant was determined to prove himself as a leader without Shaquille O’Neal by his side after three championships. He did that by matching Jordan with a 9-game 40-point streak in 2003. Two of those were 50+ outings.
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Bryant held the next longest streak as well until Booker and Durant surpassed him this season. Bryant led the Lakers with 40 points in five consecutive games in 2005 and 2007. The Black Mamba has had more than a hundred 40-point games in his career, third all-time after Wilt Chamberlain and Jordan.
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NBA’s legendary scorers
When it comes to consistent scoring, few have come that close. Jordan was previously fifth for five consecutive 40-point games in 1987. Then came Allen Iverson with 5 games 10 years later. He was the 76ers rookie who came in clutch toward the last games of the season. Eventually, AI became a 4x scoring champion.
Most recently, it was James Harden on a 40-point spree. He went 41, 45, 41, 43, 44 in five straight games in the 2018-19 season with the Houston Rockets. Harden and AI, though, have now slithered a little lower on the list. But at least The Beard outranked Jordan with an 11-game 35-point scoring streak.
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This is just the regular season. Before he was credited for signing Kobe Bryant to the Lakers, Jerry West had stuffed the scoreboard with 40+ points in 10 straight NBA Finals across nine appearances. The Lakers didn’t win on his big nights. But Mr Logo is the only player to win MVP despite being on the losing team. He proves that consistent scoring streaks separate all-time scorers from elite scorers.
Edited by:
Pragya Vashisth