One of the biggest stories in the NBA at the moment have been the prolific scoring by Canada’s two most notable stars. So far this season, we have seen 13 50-point performances in a single game. It an interesting statistic, the last four 50-point performances have been by Canadians. There have been three 50+ point games since January 22 by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario. Then on Wednesday, Denver Nuggets Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ontario scored 55 points, the most points by a Canadian in a single game ever, as Denver defeated Portland 132-121.
In the three games Gilgeous-Alexander displayed prolific offense, he had 54 points in a 123-114 win over the Utah Jazz on January 22, 52 points in a 116-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors on January 29, and 50 points in a 140-109 Thunder win over the Phoenix Suns on February 5. To put Gilgeous-Alexander’s accomplishment into perspective, he is the only player this season with multiple 50 point games, and he has three. It is also the first three 50 point games in his career. Gilgeous-Alexander leads the NBA in scoring with 32.6 points per game.
Murray, meanwhile, has now had four 50+ point games in his career. He had two 50 point games agains the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs in the Orlando bubble. Then Murray scored 50 points on February 19, 2021 in a 120-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. This game was significant because Murray became the first player ever to score 50 points without a free throw attempt.
Most importantly, Gilgeous-Alexander and Murray are leading the Thunder and Nuggets to victories. OKC currently leads the West with a record of 44 wins and nine losses. Denver is in third with 36 wins and 19 losses.
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