Why NBA is seeing unprecedented scoring boom as Giannis, Luka, Donovan Mitchell, more post eye-popping totals
On Monday night, 22 players scored at least 25 points across the the NBA. Of those 22, 10 recorded at least 30, five crested 40 and two hit for 50-plus: Klay Thompson with 54, and Donovan Mitchell with 71, that latter of which goes down as the highest single-game output since Kobe Bryant's 81-piece in 2006. Before we could even digest those performances, Giannis Antetokounmpo went out and scored a career-high 55 points against the Wizards on Tuesday. The NBA has always been a league of numbers, whether traditional or new-age algorithmic, and business is booming this season. Over the last week alone, we've seen Luka Doncic record the first 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double in history, Antetokounmpo, in prologue to his career high, become the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to notch consecutive 40-20 games, and Mitchell log the eighth-highest scoring night over the league's almost 80-year existenc...