Luka Doncic continues on his way to becoming the best European to ever play basketball.
Tonight, the Dallas Mavericks guard delivered another record-breaking 60-point performance in another nonsensical game in the best league in the world - setting a new record for points scored by a player from the continent in a single game.
But even before Luka, there were quite a few European players who managed to make great games in the NBA, "Israel Hayom" with the 5 biggest performances.
5. Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic
- 51 points
The European duo of the Dallas Mavericks opens the list, with 51 points each.
Nowitzki did it on March 24, 2006, in Dallas' loss to the Golden State Warriors.
"The numbers don't mean anything in a loss," Nowitzki said then, "Whether I score five points or 60, a loss is still a loss."
Luca, did this last February against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Doncic already had 28 points after the first quarter but slowed down a bit.
It was also Dallas' first game since the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
The Slovenian likes to play against the Clippers, he averages 32.6 points against them in 26 career games (including the playoffs).
Luca and Nowitzki.
Two legends, photo: AFP
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo – 52 points against Philadelphia
It may sound strange, but the 52 points Giannis scored in 2019 against the Philadelphia Sixers remains his career high.
His team did lose 130:125, but he had a record game and also added 16 rebounds and 7 assists.
Remember, in the NBA Finals against Phoenix two seasons ago, the Greek scored 50 points and has a total of four games with over 50 points in his career.
Every bucket as @Giannis_An34 goes off for a CAREER HIGH 52 points!! #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/hHTZHKQPWb
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) March 18, 2019
3. Dirk Nowitzki - 53 points against Houston
, the German also takes third place on the list.
This time, on December 8, 2004, he scored his career high with 53 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks in his team's overtime win over the Houston Rockets.
The game is also memorable as Tracy Magrady on the other hand provided a performance of his own as he scored 48 points with 9 assists and 9 rebounds.
The 2004-05 season was one of the best seasons of Dirk's career statistically.
The German legend averaged 26.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in 78 games.
Nowitzki.
Adir, photo: AFP
2. Tony Parker –
55 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves
On November 6, 2008, Frenchman Tony Parker had a league-best 55 points on 20/33 shooting to lead San Antonio to a second overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The center also added 10 assists and 7 rebounds, and scored 9 points in the second overtime.
"I wanted to win so bad. I did what I could," said Parker, whose previous record was 38 points in January 2006 in Miami.
"It's one of those games. Everything you do is successful."
Tony Parker's career high.
#Throwback pic.twitter.com/5sXlcek7Uc
— The Spurs Zone (@TheSpursZone) December 9, 2014
1. Luka Doncic -
60 points against the New York Knicks
The first place of course belongs to the hero who inspired this article.
It remains only to argue which is bigger?
Doncic's performance or the way he forced overtime and led the Mavericks to an eventual victory against the New York Knicks.
Judge for yourselves.
"We sit here every night, and we're lucky," Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said.
"We can't take him for granted. He's a show."
The Slovenian scored 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists against the Knicks, and also forced overtime with a crazy basket, which erased a 9-point deficit - 33 seconds to the end.
These numbers made him the first in league history to achieve a triple double of 60+ points and 20+ rebounds.
60 PTS
21 REB
10 AST
Luka Doncic is the first player EVER in NBA history to record 60+ PTS, 20+ REB, and 10+ AST in a game.
Historical.
pic.twitter.com/ik8MdBYbFR
— NBA (@NBA) December 28, 2022 Were we wrong?
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