Damian Lillard's Historic 71-Point Performance Breaks Numerous Team And League Records
Entering Sunday night, only seven different players in league history have scored at least 70 points in a game: Wilt Chamberlain (six times), Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, David Robinson, Elgin Baylor, Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell, who scored 71 points earlier this season.
Well, this list now includes another name, as the eighth member of this illustrious club is Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard following a historic 71-point night against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
Scoring 71 points on 22-38 shooting from the floor, 13-22 from three-point range, Lillard was sensational and he even scored 41 points in the first half alone!
Not only was this a career-high and franchise-record for Lillard in scoring, but the list of records and milestones he broke/passed on Sunday are vast.
His 41-point half was the 10th 40-point-plus half by a player since the start of the 1996-97 season and this was also a career-high for Lillard in a half. Tying Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance from earlier this season, Lillard is now also tied for the eighth-highest scoring game by a player in NBA history.
This performance also marked the fifth time in Damian Lillard’s career that he has scored at least 60 points, moving him past Michael Jordan and James Harden for the third-most 60-point games in league history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain (32) and Kobe Bryant (6).
Shooting-wise, Lillard made a total of 13 threes, which are the most by any player this NBA season and just one behind Klay Thompson’s NBA-record 14 made threes in 2018. He is just the fourth player in NBA history to make at least 13 threes in a game, joining Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Zach LaVine.
This was also the most efficient 70-point night in league history, as Lillard became the first player in league history with at least 70 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 10 made threes with an 80.4 true shooting percentage, the highest ever in a 70-point game.
“It’s always special to do it in front of the home crowd,” Lillard said after the game. “The home crowd will always appreciate it more than any crowd you do it in front of. It’s always a pleasure to have these types of moments at home. But I cannot express how much it means and how much I just enjoy being a part of a team. I think that is just something that doesn't get talked about enough because stars get talked about as the stars and nobody talks about the team aspect of it.
“Just being a part of a team and how much time we spend together; obviously you got your friends and closest family members and whatever, but this is my eleventh season in the NBA and I don’t spend more time with anyone other than my teammates… It’s a joy just to be a part of our team.”
On top of tying Donovan Mitchell for the most points scored by a player this season, Lillard also became the first player in league history to record at least 70 points in fewer than 40 minutes, he attempted the fewest free-throws in a 70-point game, he is the first player to score at least 70 points while making at least ten threes and at 32-years-old, Damian Lillard is the oldest player in league history to record at least 70 points in a game.
“I’ve never seen a performance like that before,” Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups said after the game. “Yeah, a night like tonight, there’s not really much you can do to be honest with you… I don’t want to be on the other side of that, but I can tell you, it was fun being on this side of it.”
Damian Lillard will take the floor with the Trail Blazers again on Tuesday night when they go on the road to take on the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, a team in which Lillard has scored 33 and 34 points against already this season.
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