Chamberlain Remains Only Player To Have Ever Scored 70 Points More Than Once
Published on October 18th, 2024 9:40 am ESTWritten By: Dave Manuel
Over the history of the NBA, just 10 players have managed to score at least 70 points in a single game.
Wilt Chamberlain is the only player to have ever scored 70+ points more than once - in fact, he did it six times over the course of his career.
The first player to ever score 70 points in a single game was Elgin Baylor, who did it against the New York Knicks on November 15th, 1960. The Lakers won that game by a score of 123-108, and Baylor had 71 points in the win.
Between December 8th, 1961 and Novvember 16th, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain would score 70+ points a total of six times.
Chamberlain was still a very young player, as he was still in his mid 20s.
Chamberlain scored 78 points on December 8th, 1961 in a three overtime loss to the Lakers.
About a month later, Chamberlain would do it again, scoring 73 points in a win over the Packers.
On March 2nd, 1962, Chamberlain would famously score 100 points in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks.
In November of 1962, Chamberlain would score over 70 points twice. In March of 1963, Chamberlain would go over 70 points for a final time, as he scored 70 in a loss to the Nationals.
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It would be 15 years before another player would score 70 points in a single game.
On April 9th, 1978, David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets would score 73 points in a 139-137 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
There would be another 16 years until the next 70 point game, when David Robinson scored 71 points in a 112-97 win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
On January 22nd, 2006, Kobe Bryant would famously score 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.
On March 24th, 2017, Devin Booker would score 70 points against the Boston Celtics.
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Over the past number of years, the NBA game has changed dramatically and the game has opened way up.
This run-and-gun style of play has resulted in four 70+ points since the start of 2023, including Donovan Mitchell (71), Damian Lillard (71), Joel Embiid (70) and Luka Doncic (73).
With three-point shooting up significantly in the NBA over the past decade, you can safely assume that there will be many more 70+ point games going forward.