Is 60 the new 50?

[Roy H.]

The title is overstating things, obviously, but it seems like dropping 60 points has all of a sudden become a trend.  Kyrie did it last night, KAT a couple of nights ago.  In fact, since the 2020 season, players have dropped 60 nine times (Lillard x3, Harden, Curry, Beal, Tatum, Towns, Irving).  Other active players to have done it include Kemba, Booker, Klay, Carmelo and Lebron.

Historically, 32 players have done it, with Wilt easily the record holder, followed by Kobe.  Is 60 becoming more attainable, or is the seeming surge simply a matter of faulty memory? 

[Moranis]

The 3 pointer has altered things.  Notice they are all prolific 3 point shooters. 

[pearljammer10]

3 point line, rate of play/pace, and the leagues push to reward and showcase offense for entertainment purposes by making some defensive rule changes all go into play.

[jambr380]

Not saying it is the #1 reason, but changing the 24 second clock to 14 seconds when the offense retains possession of the ball also seems to have increased scoring a bit. When the rule went into effect in 2018, the NBA average was 106ppg; one year later it bumped up to 111ppg.

This is nothing compared to the increased scoring overall. I mean in 2011-2012, the average score was 96ppg - so it is more than just the 24/14 second clock thing.

As far as history goes, the 80s had similar scores as what we are seeing today, so the 60 point scoring outputs might legitimately be impressive. At least Tatum got in on the action.

[18isGREATERthan72]

The title is overstating things, obviously, but it seems like dropping 60 points has all of a sudden become a trend.  Kyrie did it last night, KAT a couple of nights ago.  In fact, since the 2020 season, players have dropped 60 nine times (Lillard x3, Harden, Curry, Beal, Tatum, Towns, Irving).  Other active players to have done it include Kemba, Booker, Klay, Carmelo and Lebron.

Historically, 32 players have done it, with Wilt easily the record holder, followed by Kobe.  Is 60 becoming more attainable, or is the seeming surge simply a matter of faulty memory?

I was thinking about this the other day actually. I agree, it's probably much less of a feat than it was in the 90's, but still very impressive.

Another thing that occurred to me is that Kevin Durant is largely considered one of the best offensive players of all time, but his career high is only 54.  Which is obviously a high amount, but seems low, especially compared to all the players that have dropped 60 point games recently.

[footey]

Lillard did it 3 times? Wow, I had forgotten how lethal he was.

[Atzar]

The title is overstating things, obviously, but it seems like dropping 60 points has all of a sudden become a trend.  Kyrie did it last night, KAT a couple of nights ago.  In fact, since the 2020 season, players have dropped 60 nine times (Lillard x3, Harden, Curry, Beal, Tatum, Towns, Irving).  Other active players to have done it include Kemba, Booker, Klay, Carmelo and Lebron.

Historically, 32 players have done it, with Wilt easily the record holder, followed by Kobe.  Is 60 becoming more attainable, or is the seeming surge simply a matter of faulty memory?

It's definitely more attainable.  The league has a ton of high-volume three-point shooters now, and with the way screeners are officiated, any high-volume shooter who can navigate picks is capable of exploding. 

The crazy thing is, I came away from Tatum's 60-point game thinking that it wasn't nearly his ceiling when it comes to single-game scoring outbursts.  He did it on 54% shooting.  If he ever gets on a real heater where he just keeps launching, he could potentially put up a really stupid number. 

[Big333223]

Pace has picked up so much from the 90's/00's and players are using the 3-pointer more than they ever did in the 80's. Put together, we're seeing bigger scoring games, for sure.

50 doesn't quite have the punch it used to.