Random 50-Point Games in NBA History

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Malachi Flynn scored 50 points in an NBA game. This is a real thing that happened. Yes, 98 combined points in his previous 17 games Malachi Flynn. While many are holding this up as yet another piece of evidence that there is too much scoring in today’s game, random 50-point games have always been a part of the league. 

Whenever someone does this, we go through the same discussion and talk about the usual suspects of random 50-point scorers. From Corey Brewer to Terrence Ross to T.J. Warren to Saddiq Bey, there’s no shortage of players who seemingly had no business scoring 50 who scored 50. Let’s take a look at a few that you may have forgotten about. 

Tony Delk

This is the guy I picture when I think of 50-point game anomalies. Make no mistake about it, Delk was a hooper. As a senior at Kentucky, he won Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament while leading the Wildcats to the National Championship. In the historic 1996 NBA Draft that featured a Who’s Who of future NBA legends, he was picked 16th overall by the Charlotte Hornets. 

Delk was very much an undersized scorer, listed at just 6’1”, and the league hadn’t yet come around to the idea of scoring point guards. As a result, Tony spent the majority of his career as an off-the-bench instant offense journeyman, playing for 8 teams in 10 seasons. His best season was with the Phoenix Suns in 2000-01, which just so happens to be the same year he dropped 50. 

Delk finished the game with 53 points in an overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings (FWIW Delk scored 50 in regulation) on January 2, 2001. Now, as I said, he was mostly a bench player for the entirety of his career, but this game was an exception as it was one of just 11 he started that season. 

While this was Delk’s best season as a scorer, he averaged just 12.3 points per game, which is respectable but certainly not someone you’re expecting to drop 50. In fact, this was the only game in Delk’s career in which he scored over 30 points. He nearly doubled his next-highest-scoring game of 27. 

Even more shocking is how he got his points. Delk shot an incredible 46% from 3 as a rookie but then fell off a cliff after they moved the 3-point line back to its original 23’9” the very next season. This year with Phoenix was his 1st season shooting above 30% since his 1st year in the league, but even then he only hit a paltry 32% from deep.

He only attempted a single 3-pointer in this game, which he missed. He did put together a ridiculously efficient performance inside the arc though, going 20 for 26 from 2 along with hitting 13/15 from the free throw line. A 50-point game without a made 3 seems unbelievable for any player in today’s game, especially a 6’1” guard.

Donovan Mitchell

This name might be surprising since Mitchell averages just under 25 points per game for his career, but what if I told you that he has only 1 career 50-point game in the regular season? 

We saw this man score 50 twice in a single playoff series in the bubble, so you would think he’d have accomplished it more in the regular season, but nope. On top of that, his only game above 50 points was WAY above 50 as he scored 71 in an overtime victory against the Bulls. Like Delk, he also did this on January 2nd, albeit in 2023. 

One reason we may have overlooked this performance was that it took place the same night Bills S Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field against the Bengals so we were collectively focused on more important things. 

However, now that Hamlin is healthy, we need to talk about this game, because not only did Donovan drop 71 but he also had 11 assists, which is the most for any player who has scored 70+. He had all 11 assists in regulation after deciding not to pass the ball in OT because he straight up couldn’t miss, scoring 13 of the Cavs’ 15 points on 4/4 shooting in the extra period. 

As weird as it is that a scorer as talented as Donovan has only scored 50 once in the regular season, what a way to do it. You have to imagine he’ll have a repeat performance at some point, but for now, he’s on this list.

Andre Miller

There are many things that come to mind when I think about Andre Miller. Passing is first, as he once led the league in assists. He was the definition of the traditional, pass-first NBA point guard. Nothing flashy, just come down, set up the offense, and get the ball where it needed to go. 

I also think about workouts or lack thereof. Miller famously didn’t touch a ball, a weight, or anything other than food during offseasons. This came as no surprise when you watched him play. He rarely seemed to move faster than a jog and dunked with the frequency of, well, me. 

Despite his lack of working out, Miller was one of the most durable players in NBA history. At one point, he played in 632 consecutive games. This streak only ended as the result of a suspension for absolutely trucking Blake Griffin after Griffin boxed out like an asshole on back-to-back possessions. 

I don’t know where scoring would fall, but it’s safe to say it’d be pretty low on the list. So much so that I remember double-checking the box score when I saw that he put up 52 against the Mavericks on January 30, 2010. 

An even worse 3-point shooter than Tony Delk, he did hit his only attempt of the game. The rest of the points came on a mid-range, below-the-rim barrage. Miller and the Trail Blazers won by 2 in overtime.

Willie Burton

I collected basketball cards as a child and distinctly remember getting a Willie Burton card with his career-high of 53 points listed on the back. The reason this stood out to me is because I had no clue who the hell Burton was. 

If you followed Burton’s college career, maybe this scoring outburst wasn’t as surprising. Burton helped lead the Minnesota Golden Gophers to the Elite Eight in 1990 before finally bowing out to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in a game where Burton’s 35 points were no match for the 70 scored by Dennis Scott and Kenny Anderson. 

Burton would be drafted 9th by the Miami Heat in the 1990 NBA Draft and his 12 points per game that season was good enough for All-Rookie 2nd Team honors alongside guys like Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Gary Payton. Unfortunately, that was his best year with the Heat as he struggled with substance abuse that he used to self-medicate his mental health issues. 

In his 3rd season, he played just 26 games due to checking into a rehab facility run by former NBA player John Lucas. He returned to play the following year, but other players with less baggage had taken his spot in the rotation. The Heat ended up cutting him after that season.

Burton moved on to the Philadelphia 76ers who were coached by the very same John Lucas who had helped him get his life together. Lucas’ coaching career frequently saw him take on players who had issues with substance abuse as a way to allow them to remain in the league in an environment that was healthier than the average NBA team’s at the time. 

It should come as no surprise then that this was Burton’s most productive year as a pro. He flashed a bit of that scoring talent he had shown in college as he put up 15.3 points per game, including his 53-point outburst which came against his former team, the Miami Heat. 

Not only was it a full-circle moment for Burton, but it was actually a pretty neat game. Burton’s 19 field goal attempts are tied for 2nd-fewest in a 50-point game with Kyrie Irving (Adrian Dantley is 1st with just 17 attempts). Burton did most of his damage at the free throw line going 24 for 28. 

Burton actually took the 2nd most shots on his team that game. Clarence Weatherspoon, who the 76ers thought could replace Charles Barkley, went a sad 4 for 20 from the field. Interestingly enough, Adrian Dantley also took the 2nd most shots on his team in his 17-attempt 50-point game, but at least Darrell Griffith hit 15 of his 26 attempts for 37 points (off the bench!).

That season was as good as it got for Willie in the NBA. He spent the next year in the CBA and overseas, then had a couple more cups of coffee in the league before finally finishing out his career by going back to the CBA and overseas. 

More importantly, off-the-court it appears Burton is doing much better.

Honorable Mention

Antawn Jamison does not fit the bill of random 50-point scorers because he had the good fortune of dropping 50 twice in his career. What DOES make him random is that he scored 51 points in back-to-back games only to NEVER do so again.

Even weirder is that the 2nd game he reached the 50-point mark was against the Los Angeles Lakers in a game where Kobe Bryant also scored 51. This was Kobe’s first time scoring 50 points in an NBA game. 

That’s right, Antawn Jamison led Kobe Bryant in career 50-point games for a very brief period of time despite being drafted 2 years after him. Kobe ended up with 25 career 50-point games, including 60 in the final game of his career.