Nylon Calculus: Most surprising NBA scoring performances of the decade

7. Jamal Crawford, 51 points vs. Dallas Mavericks

Fun Facts:

Crawford left the game not knowing it would probably be the last of his career. While this was game 82 for the then-39 year old, Crawford had no plans to retire and spent the next season attempting to make his way onto an NBA team.

Across the court stood the 7-foot Dirk Nowitzki, who *did* knew this would be his last game of his hall-of-fame career. Dirk and Crawford went off… or at the very least, they both took a lot of shots. Dirk scored 30 points on 31 shots and Crawford dropped an astounding 51 points on 30 shots. It remains the only instance of two top-100 surprise performances happening in the same game. And it occurred on what was likely the last game of both of their careers. Dirk and the Mavericks took a 120-109 win.

Crawford was the oldest player in the top 10. Next up is his former Suns teammate, the youngest player on the list.

Favorite Shot:

Shot Chart: