The Most Monster Performances in the NBA This Season

Image via Complex Original

Date: 12/31/14

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns

Having just returned from a sprained ankle and with star teammate Russell Westbrook getting thrown out just before halftime, Kevin Durant could have been forgiven if he took his foot off the gas in the second half of the Thunder’s New Year’s Eve clash with the Suns. But Durant isn’t wired that way, and rather than packing it in he scored 27 points in the final two quarters and overtime to lead his team to a big win. Scrambling for a playoff spot after losing Durant at the start of the season to a foot injury, the Thunder sorely need every win they can get in order to climb back into the top eight of the Western Conference.

Date: 12/8/14

Game: Washington Wizards vs. Boston Celtics

In early December, the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics engaged in one of the season’s most under-the-radar thrilling games. There were buzzer-beaters and two overtimes, but in the end it was John Wall’s transcendent play that lifted the home team to a thrilling win. The point guard—playing with a heavy heart following the death of Miyah Telemaque-Nelson, a six-year-old cancer patient, whom he befriended last March—scored 26 points to go with a career-high 17 assists as the Wizards twice rallied in overtime to get the win. Wall was heavily involved in Washington’s final outburst, scoring the team’s last 10 points of the game to fend off a feisty Celtics squad that had recovered from a 22-point deficit to get back into the game.

Date: 1/13/15

Game: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Indiana Pacers

Surprisingly, the NBA had not seen a 50-point game all season when the calendar flipped to 2015. And, if you were a betting sort of person, you probably would not have wagered much on the Timberwolves’ Mo Williams being the first player to hit the half-century mark; after all, up to that point in the season his previous high-point total was 25 and he was averaging about 11 points per game. That all changed on the road against the Pacers, where Williams caught fire and poured in a career-high 52 points in a Minnesota win that ended their 15-game losing streak. The 52 points was also a Timberwolves franchise record, surpassing the likes of Kevin Love and Kevin Garnett for the top spot.

Date: 1/10/15

Game: Chicago Bulls vs. Milwaukee Bucks

Pau Gasol has had plenty of big games in his career, but nothing really on this level. The big Spaniard set a career best with 46 points to go along with 18 rebounds as he helped the Bulls earn a much-needed victory, and in the process joined Michael Jordan as the only Bull ever to put up those kind of numbers in a single game. Pau was so dominant that he was both one point and one made field goal shy of equaling the total of the rest of his team, and his field goal percentage was over 25 percent better than the rest of the Bulls.

Date: 2/6/15

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Two of the NBA’s best players had two of their finest games of the season when the Thunder met the Pelicans in early February. Russell Westbrook put up a career-high 48 points while dishing 11 assists and nearly completing a triple-double with nine rebounds; somehow, despite being the first player to have that kind night since 2009, he was only the second biggest star on the floor. That’s because the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis led his team to victory with 41 points and 10 rebounds, hitting a game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer to stun the home crowd and cement his status as one of the NBA’s most clutch players.

Date: 1/25/15

Game: Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls

Since being drafted in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft, Hassan Whiteside played in a total of 19 NBA games prior to this year. After stops in the D-League, China, and Lebanon, he was working out at a YMCA in late November when the Heat called, and by late December he had become a regular part of their rotation. It all culminated with this unconventional triple-double against the Bulls in which Whiteside scored 14 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked 12 shots, leading the Heat to a surprising win. How unusual is this stat line? Nobody has done it since Shawn Bradley in 1998, and it’s only happened seven times since 1985-86.

Date: 2/4/15

Game: Golden State Warriors vs. Dallas Mavericks

When you’re dealing with a lights-out shooter like Stephen Curry, a game can flip in an instant. The Warriors had surrendered 42 points to the Mavericks in the first quarter, and at one point trailed by as many as 22 points. They did, however, have a trump card in Curry, and Steph delivered 51 points on 10 three pointers to help his team rally back for a hard-fought win. Curry buried shots from all over the floor, and was at his best during a third quarter in which he scored 26 points on five threes. In a season full of comeback wins, this was perhaps Golden State’s most impressive effort.

Date: 1/28/15

Game: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Portland Trail Blazers

With LeBron James out of action due to a wrist injury, the Cavaliers needed someone to step up if they were going to steal a win against a strong Trail Blazers team. Kyrie Irving proved more than up to the task, shifting into the primary scorer role and dumping 55 on the visitors to lead the Cavs to their eighth straight win. After missing his first seven shots of the game Irving hit 17-of-29 from the field, including a staggering 11 three-pointers. His last two threes were easily his most crucial buckets of the game: the first tied it up at 92, and his 11th and final try proved to be the game-winner.

Date: 1/16/15

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors

Larry Bird. Magic Johnson. Jason Kidd. Those are the names Russell Westbrook put himself among when he completed a triple-double against the Warriors on January 16 that included 17 points, 15 rebounds, and 17 assists. This ridiculous stat line of at least 15 points, rebounds, and assists has happened just seven times since 1986-87 season; the last to do it was Rajon Rondo in March of 2012, and the only others to accomplish the feat are Kidd, Magic, and Bird. What makes Westbrook’s especially noteworthy is that he did it in just 36 minutes on the floor; the others all played at least 40 minutes, and averaged 45.

Date: 1/23/15

Game: Golden State Warriors vs. Sacramento Kings

It’s not every day you see a performance that can be objectively described as “historically great.” That is exactly what happened for Klay Thompson, though, who set an all-time NBA record by scoring 37 points in the third quarter of the Warriors’ win over the Kings. Thompson surpassed the old record of 33—which was set by George Gervin in 1978 and tied by Carmelo Anthony in 2008—thanks in large part to an NBA record 9-for-9 mark on three point attempts in the quarter. His 52 points for the game was a career high, and helped him cement his first career All-Star selection less than a week later.