Kevin Durant poured in 44 points in Oklahoma City’s 114-106 victory over the Nuggets yesterday to move into seventh place on the NBA’s all-time Christmas Day scoring chart. Twenty-one of those points came in the third quarter alone.
Durant registered his point total on 14-20 shooting including four three-pointers and was 12-15 from the line.
Also a big congratulations to Amare Stoudemire for swatting six shots which represents a tie for second most in Christmas history with Larry Smith (1980) and Terry Tyler (1979).
Dwight Howard also blocked five shots to move into an eight-way tie with a few notable players like Shaquille O’Neal (1999), Moses Malone (1986), and Elvin Hayes (1976).
Other notable statistics from yesterday’s games:
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LeBron James recorded the fourth triple-double in Christmas Day history
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Derrick Rose registered six steals in loss to Knicks
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Andre Miller recorded the eighth-best assist total (15) in Christmas Day history
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Watch the Nuggets - Thunder game video recap by CLICKING HERE
Unfortunately there were no other huge performances numbers-wise that entered the Christmas NBA record books this year.
You were so close, Monta Ellis! 39 points and a win over the Blazers will have to do, though.
Who are the top ten scorers in Christmas Day history after Kevin Durant’s explosion?
Glad you asked!
Here they are:
(NOTE: Pictures don’t represent actual Christmas Day games)
| Rank | Player | Year | Team | Points | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard King | 1984 | New York Knicks | 60 | King scored 40 points in the first half of this one |
| 2 | Wilt Chamberlain | 1961 | Philadelphia Warriors | 59 | Wilt grabbed a record 36 rebounds as well |
| 3 | Rick Barry | 1966 | San Francisco Warriors | 50 | Barry was on his way to a career-best 35.6 scoring average that season |
| 4 | Jerry West | 1963 | Los Angeles Lakers | 47 | West would average 28.7 points on the year |
| 5 | Tracy McGrady | 2002 | Orlando Magic | 46 | An in-his-prime McGrady was too much for Detroit |
| 6 | Dominique Wilkins | 1987 | Atlanta Hawks | 45 | Nique averaged over 30 PPG for the 2nd time |
| 7 | Kevin Durant | 2010 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 44 | Last season’s scoring champ and putting up 28.1 this year |
| 8 | Tracy McGrady | 2000 | Orlando Magic | 43 | McGrady’s 1st season in Orlando resulted in a career-high 26.8 PPG |
| 9 | Michael Jordan | 1992 | Chicago Bulls | 42 | Has there ever been anyone more dominant than Jordan in 1992? |
| 10A | Tracy McGrady | 2003 | Orlando Magic | 41 | A rookie LeBron James dueled with McGrady in 2003 |
| 10B | Brandon Roy | 2009 | Portland Trail Blazers | 41 | Due to knee troubles Roy may never be the same - so sad. |
HONORABLE MENTION:
Dwyane Wade - 40 points in 2006
Congrats Durant! I’m sure you’ll be climbing up this list in the near future.