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The NBA has seen some prolific scorers over the years. 40-point performances by players used to be a rarity. But over the last few years, several stars in the modern-day NBA have made that look easy by doing so consistently.
On most occasions, players producing such efforts end up on the winning side. Nevertheless, let's take a look at five active NBA players who have had the most 40-point outings in losing causes.
#5 Carmelo Anthony - 15 NBA games
Carmelo Anthony is one of the best scorers in the history of the NBA. He recently surpassed Elvin Hayes to break into the league's all-time top scorers. Melo now has 27,334 points to his name, playing his 18th season in the NBA. However, he is now the only player in the top ten who has not won the Championship.
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Anthony made his NBA debut with the Denver Nuggets and led them to the playoffs every season he played for them between 2003-04 and 2009-10. He was the best player in the team every year and was their primary scorer.
Melo then played for the New York Knicks midway through the 2010-11 NBA campaign. He played there for six seasons, reaching the playoffs thrice, last doing so in 2012-13.
Carmelo Anthony has had 36 games in which he scored 40 points or more (19 with Denver and 17 with New York). However, he ended up on the losing side on 15 such occasions.
#4 Kevin Durant - 19 NBA games
Kevin Durant is one of the few players with size and a wide array of shots in his arsenal.
He is regarded as one of the best offensive players in the NBA and is more often than not the highest scorer for his team. The former league MVP and two-time NBA champion has played 13 full seasons in the competition, averaging a whopping 27.1 points per contest.
Durant isn't the easiest of players to guard against because of his point guard-like dribbling prowess and ability to make improbable shots. He often scores freely and with great efficiency, which is evident in his tally of 58 career 40-point games. He has also won the scoring title four times.
Most of his 40-point outings (46) came for the OKC Thunder. It was also with the Thunder that he endured the most losses (13) in 40-point outings. His most recent such loss came against the Milwaukee Bucks on May 3rd, where Durant scored 42 points on the night, but the Brooklyn Nets succumbed to a 114-117 defeat.
#3 James Harden - 22 NBA games
High-scoring individual performances and James Harden are almost synonymous with each other, especially considering the player's scoring efficacy for his former team, the Houston Rockets. Harden is fourth in the all-time list of most career 40-point games (101) and has the highest tally among any active player.
The 'Beard' registered 97 40-point games with the Rockets; all his 22 losses in such outings came while playing for the franchise. More often than not, Harden used led the Houston Rockets, thanks to his high-scoring game, taking them to the playoffs in all eight seasons he was there.
He won the scoring title in three consecutive seasons, doing so from 2017-18 to 2019-20 and also bagged the NBA MVP award in 2018. More often than not, he had to bail the Rockets out of trouble single-handedly, which is one of the biggest reasons why as many as 22 of his 101 40-point games did not result in a win for his team.
#2 Bradley Beal - 22 NBA games
Bradley Beal has never really been surrounded by a great support cast throughout his stint with the Washington Wizards. He made his NBA debut in the 2012-13 season and helped the team achieve a playoff berth four times in seven seasons.
Beal had a breakout season in the 2016-17 campaign, averaging 23 points as he started producing high-scoring games regularly. With 22 of his 29 40-point scoring games resulting in a loss, though, the guard has the worst ratio amongst all players mentioned in this list.
The current NBA season has been no different, as the Wizards have lost six of the seven games Beal has scored at least 40 plus points in. Nevertheless, they have a decent chance of qualifying for the 2021 NBA playoffs because of the play-in tournament and Russell Westbrook's arrival.
#1 Russell Westbrook - 24 NBA games
Russell Westbrook has a knack of producing some really high-volume individual performances.
The former league MVP is averaging a triple-double for the fourth time in his career, becoming the only player to do so. Brodie has been a terrific scorer over the years since making his debut in 2008.
Russell Westbrook has won the scoring title twice, doing so in the 2014-15 and 2016-17 campaigns, when he also averaged a 30-point triple-double. He has had exactly 50 40-point games in his illustrious career, but almost half of them (24) have come in a losing cause.
