Reigning NBA 2022/23 MVP Joel Embiid and 2018/19 rookie of the year Luka Doncic each tallied 70 points to secure their teams the win. On January 22, 2024, the Philadelphia 76ers played against the San Antonio Spurs. In this game, Joel Embiid dropped 70 points, 18 rebounds, and 5 assists. Though he only made 24 of 41 shots, 21 of 23 were made at the three-point line. It took Joel Embiid 37 minutes to pull off this historical performance which was only done by 8 other people in history up to that point.
Not even a full four days later, another name popped up with a 73-point game. Luca Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks dropped 73 points on January 26, 2024. The Dallas Mavericks were set to verse the Atlanta Hawks. This 73-point was a career and franchise high. Doncic took only 33 attempts. He missed eight shots while hitting eight 3 pointers. Doncic’s 73-point outing is the fourth-highest scoring effort in NBA history. Luca trails only Wilt Chamberlain (100 and 78-point games) and Kobe Bryant (81 points).
These two players became the 9th and 10th players in history to score 70+ points in an NBA game. This was last accomplished by Damian Lillard against the Golden State Warriors in 2020.