Who in the NBA Has the Best Chance of Breaking Wilt’s 100-Point Record?
To put last week’s individual scoring outbursts into perspective, consider the following stat. In the NBA, there were three games with 60 points or more between 1990 and 2004. Just this last week, there were four. In just one game, Luka Doncic scored 73 points. Embiid Joel scored seventy. In defeat, Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 62 points.
The increase in outstanding scoring can be attributed to several factors. The tendencies have only become worse since I wrote about them five years ago in an article titled “It’s Never Been Easier to Score 50 Points in the NBA.” Routine explosions have been set in motion by a faster league pace, improved offensive efficiency, an embracing of 3-point shooting, and an increase in single-star lineups. (Admittedly, so have some awful defenses: the four most recent 60-point performances occurred against the Pacers, Hawks, Hornets, and Spurs, who are ranked 25, 26, 27, and 30th in defensive rating, respectively.)
The tremendous offense-first bias of the league worries some analysts and fans. However, this essay isn’t meant to be a discussion. Instead, we’re playing a hypothetical game that was sparked by the recent run of high point totals: Could any player in the current era truly break Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary record of 100 points in a game by scoring 50, 60, or even 70 points in a game?
One may argue that 100 is still well behind what the top scorers achieved the previous week. Both Embiid and Doncic scored over 70 points, but even if they had continued to play and scored at the same pace as they did in the first four quarters, they would not have reached the century mark.
On the other side, because they either didn’t play as many minutes or didn’t attempt as many shots as they could have, Embiid and Doncic both missed out on some easy points. Their performances at the very least point toward a potential route to 100. Regarding the second-highest scoring game in history, Bill Simmons noted in The Book of Basketball that “Kobe’s 81-point game made [Wilt’s 100] seem slightly breakable.”
In all, Wilt’s 100-point performance included a record-tying 36 field goals made. (No one has ever produced more than thirty.) He made a record 63 shot attempts. (No one else has ever made more than 56 attempts.) His total of 28 free throws is tied for the NBA record with Adrian Dantley’s. Stated differently, Chamberlain made the most of his two opportunities to score: free throws and two-pointers.
