Damian Lillard, who scored 71 points in a game earlier this season, believes that he or Stephen Curry can break the sound barrier and score 90.
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There’s no doubt that one of the toughest NBA records to crack open is the 100-point barrier. Wilt Chamberlain terrorized the New York Knicks one fine March day in Hershey, Pennsylvania to put up that tally.
Chamberlain also averaged 50 points per game that year, playing 48.5 minutes per game. The Big Dipper has many other scores with 70+ points to his credit in just 2 seasons of play.
Wilt’s 100-point game is a testimony to just how improbable reaching that hallowed 100-point figure is. Since 1962, only one player has scored more than 80 points in a game. That was Kobe Bryant, putting up 81 against the Raptors on January 22, 2006.
Damian Lillard comments on the possibility of a 90-point game
Damian Lillard was recently a guest with Dan Patrick on the latter’s radio show. DP asked Dame whether it would be possible for anyone to score 90 points in today’s game.
Dame Dolla backed himself to possibly be able to crack the feat, while also naming Stephen Curry. Klay Thompson was also a name brought up, but Lillard believes he wouldn’t shoot enough free throws for this to be possible:
“I would either pick myself or I would pick Steph Curry. I think Booker or Klay could possibly do it. Klay would have a harder time because Klay doesn’t get to the free throw line.”
“I mean, you’re gonna need to shoot a significant amount (of free throws) and I just don’t think he shoots enough free throws. He could make a lot of 3s, I’m sure Klay could get really, really hot.”
“But if you think about it, you could make 20 3s and still be 30 points away. So you’re gonna need to get to that line and you’re gonna need to get to the rim a little bit.”
How likely are Lillard and Stephen Curry to break Kobe’s 81-point record?
Both Lillard and Stephen Curry have shown that they’re capable of running up extremely high scores. Dame set a career high this year with 71 points in a game.
However, as Dame mentioned in the interview, getting to 90 points with even 20 made 3-pointers is a tall order. You would require to be able to score in a whole host of different ways.
Also, games that become blowout wins for one’s team would prevent them from reaching those milestones. All-in-all, cracking even 70 points is an extremely difficult task that even MJ didn’t achieve.
