Friday night, Dallas Mavericks' star Luka Doncic provided the latest in a recent scoring barrage from NBA players. Also on Friday, the Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker scored 62 points in a 133-131 loss at the Indiana Pacers. On January 22, Philadelphia 76ers' star Joel Embiid scored 70, while the Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns scored 62.
Whatever has been in the NBA water lately aside, we are witnessing some of the most outstanding point totals in history as of late. Even last season, there were two 70-point games, with Donovan Mitchell pouring in 71 on January 2 of last year, and Damian Lillard scoring 71 on February 26 of last season. At the time, Mitchell's 71 points was the most by any player since Kobe Bryant's 81-point game on January 22 of 2006. Since Mitchell's game, there have been three 70-point performances, including two in the last week.
The latest, an offensive masterclass by Doncic - pull-back threes, driving layups finishing with contact - is just the latest example of the scoring barrage that is happening in today's game. Doncic was a stellar 25-of-33 from the field, while adding eight three-pointers on 13 attempts in his team's 148-143 win. Oh, and he added 10 rebounds and seven assists. For the season, he is now averaging 34.6 points per game, 9.2 assists, and 8.6 rebounds, while shooting 49.2 percent, nearly three percent above his career average of 46.9 percent.
Throughout history, the game has had its share of scorers - from Wilt Chamberlain, to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and on and on. Bernard King, Alex English, and George Gervin are three more examples of exceptional bucket getters.
The scoring today, whether aided due to the defensive rule changes and the freedom of movement that offensive players have (quite similar to that of an NFL wide receiver who can get open without much resistance), is happening more often than what we used to see in the league. Whether that is good or bad is up to the viewer, most of whom who saw the likes of Chamberlain and Jerry West and Jordan, will say that it is much easier today to score than it was in those days, in large part due to the wide open floor that players operate with now, as opposed to a clogged paint where it was harder to find open space.
Regardless, it all does not change the fact that fans growing up today are being treated to offensive displays on a nightly basis, a lot of which are historic performances.
The latest, by a 24-year-old who is dominating offensively at a rate that should not be of a player his age, being just the most recent in what continues to be an offensive display by the NBA's top stars.
Comments