Though he very much would have preferred a win over Philadelphia, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 52-point performance on Sunday marked a different sort of achievement. The Bucks superstar became the 11th different player to score at least 50 points in a game this season, which sets a new NBA record.
It didn’t take the league long to break the previous record of 10 set in 2016-17. All but one of this season’s 50-point scorers were 2018-19 All-Stars, the lone exception being Minnesota’s Derrick Rose.
Harden has accounted for the most 50-point games this season (six), with three of them coming in a 12-day span in January. No other player has reached the 50-point plateau more than once in 2018-19.
