Where does Donovan Mitchell’s 71 point outburst rank in NBA history?

On Monday night, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell joined one of the most exclusive groups in NBA history; that being, players who have scored 70 or more points in a single game. Against the rival Chicago Bulls, Mitchell enjoyed the best game of his entire career in a win that has cemented him in the NBA history books forever.

Mitchell is just the seventh player to have achieved this feat. Who are the others? Well, it may first surprise you to hear who has NOT accomplished this. Such NBA greats as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and many others have never (or at least not yet regarding the last two), but Donovan Mitchell now has joined Devin Booker as the only active NBA players who have scored 70 or more points.

What’s even more impressive than his points total — which ranks tied for eighth all-time — is that he was responsible for a total of 99 points in this game. That is the second most All-Time behind only Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain.

Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance is impressive, so where does it rank in NBA history?

Before looking deeper into some of the memorable 70+ point performances the NBA has seen, it’s first important to give due credit to some of those who just barely missed the cut. Here are three players that scored just under 70 points in a single game:

Wilt Chamberlain — 68 points | 12/16/1967

Pete Maravich — 68 points | 02/25/1977

Michael Jordan — 69 points | 03/10/1963

All impressive performances, but all came up just short of the 70-point marker.