It was a great night to be a scorer.
On Friday, January 24, 2014, the NBA was graced with some of the most outstanding scoring performances of the entire season. One player set a franchise record for points scored in a single game, another eclipsed the 40-point plateau and multiple legends moved up the ladder on all-time lists.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s wild action.
1. In the midst of a dreadful team season, Carmelo Anthony erupted for a career-high 62 points and 13 rebounds as the New York Knicks defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 125-96. ‘Melo finished the game with a shooting mark of 23-of-35 from the field, 6-of-11 from 3-point range and 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
Anthony’s 62-point outburst was the biggest in franchise history, the most any player has ever scored at Madison Square Garden, and the highest output of any player this season. Bernard King is proud.
2. While ‘Melo was dominating, Kevin Durant was resting for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite playing without KD and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder took down the Boston Celtics 101-83 behind 21 points from Serge Ibaka.
Jeremy Lamb added 19 and the Thunder shot 53.8 percent from the field during a surprisingly lopsided affair.
3. The San Antonio Spurs earned a historic 105-79 win over former assistant coach Mike Budenholzer and the Atlanta Hawks. Boris Diaw scored a season-high 21 points and Tim Duncan ripped off 17 points, 16 rebounds, two assists and four blocks.
Gregg Popovich moved into a tie with Red Auerbach for 10th on the all-time wins list with 938. Duncan tied Shaquille O’Neal for seventh on the all-time blocks list with 2,732.
4. Paul George scored 36 points and Lance Stephenson added 24 points and 10 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers held off the Sacramento Kings 116-111 in overtime. Roy Hibbert added 10 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, and David West posted 22 points to help Indiana improve to 33-8 overall and 12-7 on the road.
For the Kings, Marcus Thornton scored a career-high 42 points and Isaiah Thomas dropped 38 to combine for 80 against the NBA’s No. 1 defense. The rest of the Kings’ starters combined for 11 points.
5. Tobias Harris took over with a season-high 28 points and a career-high 20 rebounds as the Orlando Magic defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 114-105. Three separate Magic players scored at least 20 points and Victor Oladipo posted 15 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block.
Kendall Marshall continued his Most Improved Player of the Year campaign with 19 points and 14 assists, and Pau Gasol tallied 21 points, 11 rebounds, six dimes, two blocks and a steal. Only Ty Lawson of the Denver Nuggets has more double-digit assist games than Marshall in January.
Looking for Lakers tickets? Look no further.
6. One game removed from dropping 40 points, DeMar DeRozan put on an encore performance with 34 and nine rebounds as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 104-95. Not to be outdone by his teammate and fellow All-Star candidate, Kyle Lowry dropped 18 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.
It was Lowry’s fourth career triple-double and it marks the fourth consecutive season that he’s registered one.
7. Chandler Parsons scored a career-high 34 points on a franchise record 10 3-point field goals, but the Houston Rockets still fell 88-87 to the Memphis Grizzlies. James Harden was just 2-of-11 from the field and Patrick Beverley shot 1-of-11.
Courtney Lee scored 19 points to lead Memphis to the win and a record of 21-20.
8. John Wall ripped off 18 points and 12 assists to lead the Washington Wizards to a 101-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns. This was Wall’s 15th double-double of the season after he recorded 14 in all of 2012-13.
Washington is 21-21 overall and 11-10 on the road. That’s Washington’s highest number of road victories for a full season since winning 11 in 2009-10.
9. Mirza Teletovic scored a career-high 34 points in 27 minutes as the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 107-106. Deron Williams added his first double-double since December 20, 2013 with 18 points and 11 assists.
After starting at 10-21, Brooklyn has improved to 19-22 by going a league-best 9-1 during the month of January.
10. Anthony Morrow scored a season-high 21 points and the New Orleans Pelicans earned a 103-101 win over the Detroit Pistons. Despite playing without Ryan Anderson, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday, the Pelicans earned their 17th win of the year.
Andre Drummond posted 21 points and 20 rebounds to become the first Pistons player with 20 and 20 since Antonio McDyess on March 11, 2009.
Bonus Fact
- Carmelo Anthony is the first player in NBA history to record 62 points and zero turnovers.
- Over the course of the past 10 seasons, only one player has scored more points than ‘Melo did last night: Kobe Bryant with 81 in 2006 and 65 in 2007.
- Blake Griffin posted 26 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Los Angeles Clippers past the Chicago Bulls 112-95.
- Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic combined for 48 points and 28 rebounds, and Kevin Martin scored 26 as the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the Golden State Warriors 121-120. Martin made the game-winner with 8.4 seconds remaining in regulation.