Rationality Ranking of 70+ Point Games: Adebayo's 83 Points Rank 11th, Doncic's 73 Points Top the List, Bryant's 81 Points Second

On March 13, Beijing time, how does Adebayo's 83-point performance rank in terms of rationality among NBA's historical "70+ point" games? After this spectacle, the focus of public discussion has shifted more towards the rationality and value of the score rather than the number itself.

The well-known American media Bleacher Report stated that if judged by the so-called "rational basketball" standard, where does Adebayo's historic night rank among all NBA 70+ point games? The concept of "rational basketball" itself is vague and subjective, but before ranking, we analyzed five core dimensions: total points (PTS), margin of victory (MOV), scoring efficiency per true shot attempt (PTS/TSA), scoring efficiency per free throw attempt (PTS/FTA), points per minute (PTS/MIN), and assist-to-shot ratio (AST/FGA).

There have been 16 instances of 70+ points in NBA history. Bleacher Report, based on a comprehensive scoring of the above data and incorporating a small amount of subjective judgment, produced a final ranking of rationality, as follows—

1. Doncic 73 points, 2. Bryant 81 points, 3. Mitchell 71 points, 4. Lillard 71 points, 5. Chamberlain 100 points, 6. David Thompson 73 points, 7. Embiid 70 points, 8. Chamberlain 70 points, 9. Chamberlain 73 points, 10. David Robinson 71 points, 11. Adebayo 83 points, 12. Booker 70 points, 13. Chamberlain 72 points, 14. Baylor 71 points, 15. Chamberlain 78 points, 16. Chamberlain 73 points

In this ranking, Adebayo's 83-point game is positioned at 11th place, not even entering the top ten.

First, let's examine the relevant data for Adebayo's game—

Adebayo 83 points

Basic stats: 83 points in 42 minutes, 3 assists, 20-of-43 field goals, 7-of-22 three-pointers, 36-of-43 free throws

Rationality stats: Margin of victory 21 points, scoring efficiency per true shot attempt 1.34, scoring efficiency per free throw attempt 1.93, points per minute 1.98, assist-to-shot ratio 0.07

This performance is easily criticized, which is obvious. Within 24 hours after the game, numerous fans and commentators complained: too many free throws, the game was already in garbage time, Adebayo remained on the court to surpass 81 points, and the Heat even intentionally fouled just to give him more possessions.

As expected, public opinion quickly escalated to criticism of the entire NBA era, and many passionately argued that Bryant's 81 points were far more valuable. But 83 points are 83 points. Regardless of what detractors say, Adebayo achieving this is indeed an extremely astonishing feat.

Now let's look at the relevant data and commentary for Doncic, Bryant, and Chamberlain—

Doncic 73 points

Basic stats: 73 points in 45 minutes, 7 assists, 25-of-33 field goals, 8-of-13 three-pointers, 15-of-16 free throws

Rationality stats: Margin of victory 5 points, scoring efficiency per true shot attempt 1.82, scoring efficiency per free throw attempt 4.56, points per minute 1.62, assist-to-shot ratio 0.21

Doncic's 73-point game data is distinctly different from all other games on the list. His field goal attempts are the lowest among all 70+ point games, and his free throw attempts are the second lowest.

His true shooting percentage in this game was as high as 91.2%. Moreover, the team genuinely needed his scoring—as evident from the final score of Mavericks 148-143 narrowly defeating the Hawks.

Every performance on this list is arguably great, but only Luka perfectly blended ultimate individual scoring with rational team basketball.

Bryant 81 points

Basic stats: 81 points in 42 minutes, 2 assists, 28-of-46 field goals, 7-of-13 three-pointers, 18-of-20 free throws

Rationality stats: Margin of victory 18 points, scoring efficiency per true shot attempt 1.48, scoring efficiency per free throw attempt 4.05, points per minute 1.93, assist-to-shot ratio 0.04

Those angered by Adebayo surpassing this specific record overlook the similarities between the two games. Bryant's game was also long decided by the final stages, and his teammates prioritized feeding him the ball. In the fourth quarter alone, Bryant accounted for 13 of the Lakers' 17 field goal attempts and also took 13 free throws.

Undoubtedly, he was chasing a higher score at that time.

But that's completely fine! Adebayo and the Heat doing so is also fine, except several factors propelled Bryant's game directly to the second spot.

Firstly, his free throw attempts were less than half of Adebayo's, and his two-point and three-point shooting percentages both exceeded 50%. Although they ultimately won by 18 points, the Lakers were actually trailing at halftime. Bryant scored 27 points alone in the third quarter to directly reverse the game situation; the Lakers indeed needed his outburst to win.

At a certain point in the fourth quarter, the game shifted from "comeback victory" to "individual pursuit of a high score," but leading the team to victory while creating history is not problematic in itself.

Chamberlain 100 points

Basic stats: 100 points in 48 minutes, 2 assists, 36-of-63 field goals, 28-of-32 free throws

Rationality stats: Margin of victory 22 points, scoring efficiency per true shot attempt 1.30, scoring efficiency per free throw attempt 3.13, points per minute 2.08, assist-to-shot ratio 0.03

Chamberlain's 100-point performance, like any game on this list, is easily criticized. In a game that was already a blowout, he took 63 field goal attempts and 32 free throws. Just as the Heat helped Adebayo, his teammates also intentionally fouled to secure more possessions for him.

The pace of games in the 1960s was faster than almost any era, and the entire game seemed orchestrated around helping him reach 100 points. Moreover, we have no video footage of this game, so we cannot see the exact circumstances.

But the key point is: he truly scored 100 points in a single game. In the world's highest-level basketball league. Over 60 years later, no one has come close to this score.

Bryant and Adebayo are the only other two players to surpass 80 points. Even Chamberlain himself never had another game exceeding 78 points.

Adebayo's 83 points make the 100-point feat seem less distant, but replicating this miracle still requires all conditions to perfectly align.