Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero just joined the best NBA playoff 40-point duels ever

Cade Cunningham put on a classic performance Wednesday to extend the series against Paolo Banchero's Orlando Magic. Cunningham dropped 45 big ones, and Detroit needed every bucket because Banchero refused to die, also scoring 45. Every shot from Banchero sank the hearts of Pistons fans. He was that close to ending their season.

This was the first time two playoff opponents dropped 45 or more points since 2020. That 2020 series had one of the greatest duels you will witness. We have had some classic matchups this century. These games had high stakes, gut-punching shot making, and that instant classic feeling around them. Here are the seven 40-point playoff duels since 2000, ranked.

7. LeBron James (45 points) vs. Gilbert Arenas (44 points), May 3, 2006

In a pivotal Game 5, LeBron showed he was ready in his first playoff series. James' 45 points willed the Cleveland Cavaliers past Gilbert Arenas' Washington Wizards to take a 3-2 lead. This was one of the three elite Arenas seasons.

Arenas knocked down six 3s and went perfect from the free-throw line. That's some funny irony because this is the famous "don't miss that free throw" series. LeBron had his first of many playoff game winners in this one. He has been clutch since the beginning despite the missteps.

6. Cade Cunningham (45 points) vs Paolo Banchero (45 points), April 29, 2026

Recency bias had this game in the middle of the list initially, but once you factor in the weight and stakes of this matchup, No. 6 is a good spot.

From midrange drop-offs to finishing through and over defenders, Banchero and Cunningham got whatever they wanted against these stellar defenses. This was the type of back-and-forth where a neutral viewer would root for both players.

Cunningham stepped up nailing five trey balls. He entered the game shooting sub-30 percent from deep, so he reached down and gave it all he had. Banchero is not known as a lethal shooter either, but he rained six 3s cutting into Detroit's lead. The shotmaking from two bright young stars left you wanting even more. Hello Game 6.

5. Jamal Murray (50 points) vs Donovan Mitchell (44 points), August 30, 2020

En route to the 3-1 comeback, Jamal Murray poured in on the Utah Jazz to force a Game 7. Talk about unguardable. Murray was as hot as the Sun-like jerseys Utah sported that night.

Murray was 17-24 from the field and unconscious from 3 with nine of them. The Jazz perimeter defenders did not offer much resistance in that era, but there was nothing anyone could do with Murray this series.

Mitchell kept Utah in it with 44 points. That is a career night for most players but this wasn't even Mitchell's best game of the series. If this matchup were more than a first-round duel, I would have this particular game higher. It was truly one of the greatest shotmaking displays, and another game from this series will get more flowers later because it was too great to deny.  

4. Paul Pierce (41 points) vs LeBron James (44 points), May 18, 2008

LeBron enters this list for the second time, but it came in a losing effort to The Truth. Piece, now a mainstay in the media, has some head-turning, but he does have classic battles like this one that give his self-confidence a leg to stand on.

In a Game 7 for a chance to get to the Eastern Conference Finals, Pierce outplayed LeBron down the stretch. Pierce showed how committed he was to snagging his first ring with his effort. He looked like a role player in this moment; stars don't always do the little things like this.

LeBron got on the floor a little too late. Both stars traded long 2s as those were highlight reel shots in the 2000s, and neither had a teammate top 16 points. LeBron and the Cavaliers fell short after making the Finals the year before, but everyone knew he had arrived. It was Paul Pierce's time, though.

3. Jayson Tatum (46 points) vs Giannis Antetokounmpo (44 Points) May 13, 2022

Whenever Tatum gets the big game doubts, I refer to this game. Yeah, his 51 points vs Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers was the Game 7 record, but that losing feeling never entered my gut in that one.

It did with Giannis' Bucks. Milwaukee was up 3-2 and headed home. Giannis was coming off a championship run filled with clutch moments the year prior. It seemed like it was over for Boston, but Tatum said not today.

Most of Tatum's shots did not even touch the rim. Jrue Holiday may be the perimeter defender of his generation from the guard spot, but Tatum swished over him with no concerns. Tatum's shotmaking left the vocal Mark Jackson speechless. "Wow," is all he could say after watching Tatum backpack his team to a Game 7.

Giannis was spectacular this game and series overall. He was a one-man army offensively as Khris Middleton was sidelined. His complete stat line was 44 points, 20 rebounds, six assists, 2-3 from 3-point range, and 14-15 on free throws. Giannis needed help, but he still left that series as the best player in the sport through my lens.

2. Allen Iverson (48 points) vs Shaquille O'Neal (44 points) June 6, 2001

Our first Finals matchup! Basketball in June just had a different feeling, and Iverson made his name here.

The 76ers went on to lose this series, but this was the only game the Lakers lost the entire run. Shaq plus Kobe Bryant and company were a juggernaut. The fact that six-foot Iverson stood toe to toe with these pantheon greats was iconic.

Iverson's step over Tyrone Lue is in the history books. Quiet as it's kept, Lue did a good job containing Iverson in the second half, but this moment is what gets the masses' blood pumping.

Iverson's MVP year was capped off with an electric Finals performance. His team lost the series, but we may never see a player at that stature lead a team as Iverson did.

Shaq was Shaq in this series. The early 2000s Lakers' 3-peat was full of Shaq rag dolling inferior matchups in the Finals. To be fair, everyone was inferior to Shaq at this point. He was in the midst of the most dominant prime in league history. Peak Shaq sits at the table with anybody.

1. Donovan Mitchell (51 points) vs Jana Murray (50 points) August 23, 2020

This series was only a round 1 matchup, but come on man, opposing players both dropping 50? That is major business. It would be a disservice to the word duel to not have this two-and-a-half-hour bucket-getting session lower than No. 1.

Mitchell kept his foot on the gas and put the Jazz up 3-1. Keep in mind that this was the 6-seed Jazz vs the 3-seed Nuggets. It's amazing that Denver walked Utah down to win the series, but Mitchell's heroics had them up 3-1. Utah was not the better team.

Murray hit 9 3s again in this one, Mitchell was 15-27 from the field and made 17-18 free throws. The depth perception in the Bubble made it "easier" to shoot, but these two were still in another galaxy shotmaking-wise.

We may never see a series duel like this again. These guys did it over seven games; it was not just one explosion. Bubble or not, this type of excellence will live on for basketball eternity.

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