Devin Booker was in the mood to joke around during All-Star weekend. In his media session, Booker was asked about all the 70-point games we have seen recently, and the 27-year-old hilariously stated it was a lot harder to get to 70 in his day.
“It was harder to get 70 back in my day, man. Now everybody gets it,” Booker said. “It’s crazy, man. People are scoring the ball at a high level. The talent’s at an all-time high. You know the evolution of the game. People just keep getting better and better — 80, 90, yeah, 100 is possible.”
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Booker, of course, famously scored 70 points for the Phoenix Suns in a 130-120 loss to the Boston Celtics on March 24, 2017. At the time, it was just the fourth 70-point game the NBA had seen post-1963, with Kobe Bryant (81 in 2006), David Robinson (71 in 1994), and David Thompson (73 in 1978) being the three others to hit that mark.
At the end of 2022, Booker remained the last player to have scored 70 in a game, and it remained an incredibly rare feat to accomplish. Things changed in 2023, however, as we have seen four 70-point games since the start of last year.
Donovan Mitchell scored 71 points against the Chicago Bulls on January 2, 2023, and then Damian Lillard also scored 71 against the Houston Rockets on February 26, 2023. They occurred less than two months apart, but the next two were even closer.
Joel Embiid recorded 70 points against the San Antonio Spurs on January 22, 2024, and Luka Doncic then put up 73 against the Atlanta Hawks on January 26, 2024. The month also saw Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns hit the 60-point mark.
Players are more skilled now, but it has become a bit easier to have these ridiculous high-scoring outings. Booker, who is averaging 27.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game this season, thinks even a 100-point game is possible.
I previously didn’t think it could be done, but have changed my mind now. Someone like Doncic could pull it off, or maybe Victor Wembanyama might in the future.
Luka Doncic Explained What Makes Scoring Easier In The NBA
Doncic once famously said it was easier to score in the NBA than in Europe. It wasn’t a popular opinion when he said it a few years ago, but more and more people now agree with him. Earlier this year, Doncic explained why it’s easier to score in the NBA than in Europe.
“Everybody says my game looks easy. It’s not easy. Trust me,” said Doncic. “But when I said that [about the NBA] many people didn’t agree with me. I think now they are starting to agree more and more, but I always say it’s because of the rules. The three seconds in the paint in defense is huge, I don’t think people realize how huge that is. Because when I’m iso-ing, I watch the defender in the paint because he’s got to go out at some point. When he’s going out, I try to attack.”
Removing that defensive three-second violation might slow down this offensive explosion. Interestingly, that rule doesn’t exist in FIBA play, but I don’t see the NBA taking the drastic step of removing it.
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