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

Top scoring performances #8-6: Wilt Chamberlain | 01/13, 11/03, & 11/16/1962

Wilt Chamberlain had as impressive an individual stretch in the year 1962 as maybe any NBA player in the history of the game. It all started in January of the 1961-62 season when, against the Chicago Packers, he would score 73 points while playing the entire 48 minutes of the game.

Nearly 10 months later (with an even more impressive performance taking place in between), Chamberlain would once again cross the 70-point threshold, scoring 72 against the Los Angeles Lakers as he began his first season in San Francisco with the newly relocated Warriors.

Finally, just two weeks later, Chamberlain would again cross the 70-point mark scoring 73 against the New York Knicks on November 16th, 1962. It was some of the most impressive and consistent basketball the league had ever seen, and the fabled “Wilt The Stilt” was only able to outdo these performances twice in his career.

Top scoring performance #5: Donovan Mitchell | 01/02/2023

This now brings us to yesterday’s performance. While the three previously mentioned games by Wilt Chamberlain all involved more individual points scored, Donovan Mitchell was able to contribute an MVP-level performance for the Cavaliers in historic fashion.

Mitchell’s 71 points combined with his 11 assists gave him a grand total of 99 points created by his efforts; as mentioned earlier, that’s the second most in NBA history. It’s not quite enough to get him into the top three of all time, but it certainly moves his performance up a few spots.