The 50-Point Game Without A Three-Pointer: Will It Ever Happen Again?
By Matt Femrite
Jan 28, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) celebrates after scoring 55 points in the Cavaliers
Kyrie Irving’s 55 points Wednesday night marked the third 50-point game of the season and its highest single-game total so far. A good chunk of those points came from beyond the arc where Irving shot 11-for-19. Those 19 three-point attempts also happen to be another season-high for one game, though that mark feels vulnerable thanks to another Cavalier—J.R. Smith.
Regardless, the three-pointer has been quite an aid to large scoring outbursts in recent memory. Klay Thompson made 11 of them on his way to 52 points just days ago and Mo Williams made six when he dropped 52 against Indiana. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony each surpassed 60 points last season with the help of six and eight made three-pointers, respectively, and even Corey Brewer needed a couple of them as he barged through the door of the 50-point club last April.
Maybe it doesn’t beg the question, but I couldn’t help wondering anyway: Will an NBA player ever score 50 or more points in a game again without the help of the three-point shot? 50 points is an arbitrary benchmark, but it seems unlikely in this era, at least.
Since the 1979-80 season when the three-point line was introduced, there have been 214 instances when a player has scored 50 or more points[1. Regular season only.]. 71 occured without a made three-pointer, which is a decent amount until accounting for the evolution of the NBA. 1980 to 2015 is, well, a lot of time gone by, and among other things the three-point shot has become increasingly important over that timespan, both for teams and individual scoring. For the highest individual scoring marks, it looks like the longer the three-point line has stuck around the more it’s been a contributor. That’s even from 1998 to 2004 when the league-average three-point rate dipped after the end of the shortened arc era[2. From 1995 to 1997, the arc was a uniform 22 feet compared to its normal measurements of 22 feet in the corners and 23’9″ from above the break. The era looks more and more crazy with every trip down the Basketball-Reference rabbit hole.].
Below are two tables from 1980 to now taking a look at just that. The first one splits the 214 games of 50 or more points into those with and without a made three-point attempt, so Kobe Bryant’s 81-point barrage would be thrown into the former category since he made seven threes that night. The second table has the same 214 games but split into how many scored a combined 50 or more points from twos and made free throws. Since Kobe Bryant scored 60 of his 81 points inside the arc, that game would be thrown into the latter category. The results from each table are similar, though 1995 to 1997 was a small sample.
The list of players to score 50 points with little to no help from the three-point shot often had skill sets better fit for a league of the past than the present, the most apparent being the high-scoring wing who typically does most of their damage from mid-range and free throws. That might come as no surprise. Michael Jordan takes up nearly one-fifth of both the 71 and 88-game lists, for example. It’s also fitting that the last time a player scored 50-plus points without a made three was in 2007-08 by Allen Iverson and the last player to make a three-point shot but still combine for 50 points from twos and free throws was in 2008-09 by Kobe Bryant. It’s just increasingly difficult for a wing or point guard, star or not, to score primarily inside the arc, and if they do have a three-point shot in their bag then recent history has shown that it’s (understandably) rare to make 15 or more buckets without some contribution from that area of the floor.
Another skill set that shows up on the list that resembles more of a league of the past is the center who is a handful in the post. Shaquille O’Neal, for example, makes up three of the listed games, but it’s surprising that he never scored over 50 after his 1999-00 MVP season. There are also a couple games from Hakeem Olajuwon and one from Tim Duncan during his 2001-02 MVP season.
So who could possibly join a list that hasn’t had a new player in several seasons? We need a destructive force of some sort, one able to get good looks at the rim and draw heaps of fouls. Anthony Davis could fit the bill and he’s only 21 years old, but time seems more like an enemy than an aid here. He’s shooting over 45 percent from 16 feet to the arc, and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he started launching threes within the next couple seasons. DeMarcus Cousins is another option, a wrecking ball who is shooting 80 percent from the free throw line. He hasn’t scored over 40 since 2012 and foul trouble could potentially ruin a night when he’s unstoppable, but it feels terrifying to doubt him.
For the guards there’s Russell Westbrook, but specifically when playing without Kevin Durant by his side. Without Durant on the floor, Westbrook’s usage rate is 44.8 percent, according to NBAwowy. He doesn’t draw shot fouls at a rate resembling the primes of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard anymore, but it’s still record-breaking for a point guard at 4.07 per 36 minutes. Westbrook’s also struggled from three, just 25 percent this season, but the last time he scored over 40 points without making one was in 2011[3. Besides, 50 points without his three-point celebration would be unfortunate.].
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade also come to mind, combining for three 40-point games already this season, but neither has reached that mark or higher without a three since 2010. There are probably a couple players who flew over my head, or the next player could be somebody not yet in the league.
As you can see, though, 50 points in a game is obviously quite a task but even more so without the help of the extra point for making a shot beyond the arc. To accomplish such a thing would mean joining a group of players that has been gathering dust for years, a group that brings flashbacks to eras of the NBA that are long gone. Maybe it’s best they’re left untouched, and the way the league has been headed it looks like that’s not going to change[4. Of course, with my luck this would change by next Monday.].
All statistics are from Basketball-Reference unless noted otherwise.