5 NBA seasons with most 50-point games in history

There is an increase of scorers with 50-point games in the NBA. However, it is always a big deal when a player torches their opponents' defense on the way to dropping 50 or more.

High-speed offenses have become more prominent in today's game, so some fans might think that more players are dropping 50 nowadays. However, this is only partially true. The last time a player was on the way to 50 or more points was long before the era of floor spacing and rapid scoring.

Here are the five NBA seasons with the most 50-point games in history.

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5 NBA seasons with the most 50-point games in history

#5 2018-19 (22 games)

James Harden followed up his 2017-18 MVP season with more high-scoring games in 2018-19. He continued to frustrate opposing defenses on the way to a league-leading nine games where he scored 50 or more. He was, in fact, only one of two players to have multiple 50+ scoring nights. The other guy? Devin Booker, with two.

Another notable 50-point game that took place this season was Derrick Rose's 50-piece against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 31. Jamal Crawford, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kemba Walker, LeBron James and Blake Griffin also had 50-point games.

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#4 2019-20 (23 games)

The Beard did not slow down in the 2019-20 season, as he had multiple games where he went past the 50-point mark with five. However, he did not lead the league, as Damian Lillard had just one more over him to lead the pack.

Unlike in the previous season, more players had multiple 50-point games, as Bradley Beal and Kyrie Irving each had two. Giannis, Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, Caris Levert, Khris Middleton, D'Angelo Russell, T.J. Warren and Trae Young contributed one to the total number.

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#3 2022-23 (25 games)

The 2020-21 (14) and 2021-22 (19) seasons couldn't break the 20-game mark for the number of games where a player scored over 50. However, things picked up again in the 2022-23 season as 14 players accomplished this feat 25 times.

Luka Doncic led the way with four, followed by Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard and Giannis, who had three each. Steph Curry and Devin Booker also had multiple 50-point games, with two apiece.

Anthony Davis, Darius Garland, Jrue Holiday, Donovan Mitchell, Julius Randle, Pascal Siakam, Jayson Tatum and Klay Thompson had one.

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#2 1962-63 (34 games)

The 1962-63 season saw 34 games where a player scored 50 or over. Even more surprising is that these 34 games are shared between two players only. The first is Wilt Chamberlain, who owns 30 of them. And the other four went to LA Lakers legend Elgin Baylor, two of which were against Chamberlain's San Francisco Warriors.

Between 1963 and 2018, there were zero seasons wherein the number of 50-point games went over 20. Only the 2006-07 (18) and the 2021-22 (19) seasons were the only ones that had over 15.

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#1 1961-62 (57 games)

No other season has come even remotely close to the 1961-62 season regarding the number of 50-point performances. Among the games wherein a player achieved this, that year was the legendary record-setting 100-point game by Wilt Chamberlain. Aside from that, he had 44 more games where he burned defenses with a 50-point or more performance.

Aside from Wilt, Elgin Baylor had five, Jerry West and Richie Guerin had two, and Bob Pettit, Rudy LaRusso and Cliff Hagan each had one.