The Eight Best NBA Performances in 2019–2020, According to Statistics
By: Spencer Young
Tags: Statistics, Damian Lillard, James Harden, Sports, NBA

T-6. Damian Lillard vs. the Brooklyn Nets, November 8, 2019

60 points, 5 assists, 19/33 FGM, 7/16 3FGM, 15/15 FTM; Game Score: 46.80

In a duel with Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets, Damian Lillard tried his best to overcome the combined talents of Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie (67 points combined) and his own co-star’s struggles, as C.J. McCollum went 4/19.

The result was a then career-high 60 points, which was also a Blazers franchise record. None of Brooklyn’s guards could keep up with Lillard, who repeatedly drove at Jarrett Allen to either draw fouls or get easy looks at the rim. As he gained a rhythm, Lillard began shooting more three-pointers, finishing with 7 makes from three-point range on the night.

Lillard had a Box Plus/Minus of 26.2, the only player over double-digits on his entire team this night. And, with a usage rate of 41.9%, Lillard truly gave his all trying to will his team to victory.

Ultimately, despite Lillard scoring 60, the Nets’ backcourt of Irving and Dinwiddie were only outscored by the Blazers’ backcourt by one point, and Brooklyn persisted for a 119–115 victory, spoiling Lillard’s great performance.

Looking back, this game was a foreshadowing of the season to come for Lillard — both in terms of his historic performance and his team’s disappointing results.

T-5. James Harden vs. the Washington Wizards, October 30, 2019

59 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 18/32 FGM, 17/18 FTM; Game Score: 46.80

Whereas Harden’s performance against Orlando was boring and meaningless, this game against the Washington Wizards was exciting and tense — if for no other reason than neither team deciding to play any semblance of defense. Heading into the second half, both teams were nearly had 80 points, and Houston allowed Washington’s Bradley Beal to score 46 points of his own.

Down 139–147 with just over 3 minutes remaining, however, it was Russell Westbrook, and not Harden, who took over the game. Westbrook scored on a driving layup, converted a tip-in layup, and scored another layup while being fouled to give Houston a 156–155 advantage.

But with the score tied at 158-all, Harden drew a foul on Washington’s Isaac Bonga and split a pair of free-throws to give Houston a one-point win.

Some of Harden’s numbers from this game are astounding. He posted a 154 offensive rating, paired with an equally disastrous 147 defensive rating. He also had a terrific 36.0 assist percentage, paired with an efficient 73.9 TS% and a 65.6 eFG%.

Again, should this be remembered as a historic offensive performance, or should it be taken as a massacre on one of the NBA’s worst defenses ever? The Wizards this season were a surprisingly elite offensive team behind Bradley Beal, but their defense, as shown in Harden’s performance, was simply atrocious.

4. Damian Lillard vs. the Golden State Warriors, January 20, 2020

61 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 11/20 3FGM, 16/16 FTM; Game Score: 48.40

Amid a historic scoring tear, replicated only by scorers like Kobe Bryant, James Harden, and Michael Jordan, the Trail Blazers’ superstar guard Damian Lillard scored 61 points to try and continue his team’s playoff push.

On MLK Day, Lillard set a new career-high for scoring, and he broke the previous record for most points scored on the national holiday.

The Warriors led for much of the night, with D’Angelo Russell scoring 27 points and Alec Burks scoring 33 points. But with relentless drives to the basket and incredible long-distance shooting, Lillard carried the Blazers in the fourth quarter to close the gap. And down 113–110, Lillard brought the ball up, isolated on Burks, and hit a tough, contested, step-back three-pointer. Everyone in the arena, including the Warriors, knew Lillard would go for a game-tying shot, but there was nothing they could do to stop on this night.

Whereas James Harden’s repetitive, slow, waltz-like step-back threes become repetitive, Lillard’s stop-and-go, explosive style-of-play seemingly never gets old. And, this season, Lillard added another element to his game, stretching his three-point range to the team’s logo (and yes, unlike Trae Young, he makes these shots at an efficient rate).

“I mean, there’s [nothing] more you can do,” TNT commentator and former player Reggie Miller said after Lillard hit his 10th three-pointer. And if Lillard’s shooting from the field (17/37) was only slightly more efficient, this performance might have become one of the top-20 games ever, according to Game Score.

3. Anthony Davis vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves, December 8, 2019

50 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 20/29 FGM; Game Score: 48.50

In an explosive, high-scoring 142–125 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Davis showed the historic talent that made L.A. mortgage all of its future assets in exchange for him.

Minnesota had no answers for Davis, as they tried defending him with a combination of the undersized Robert Covington, the inexperienced Jordan Bell, and Karl Anthony-Towns…who isn’t known for his work ethic. In the half-court, the pick-and-roll attack of LeBron James and Davis was lethal, and if needed, the Lakers simply posted up AD in one-on-one situations.

But the biggest adjustment the Lakers made was committing to their transition attack more than ever. Rather than attempt to grab rebounds, the Lakers had Davis leak out to the other end. From there, coach Frank Vogel trusted in LeBron’s remarkable, quarterback-like passing ability to find Davis with a full-court outlet pass.

LeBron finished with 13 assists to go along with his 32 points, and Davis only missed nine shots the entire night, good for an offensive rating of 160. In fact, the entire Lakers starting lineup had incredible offensive ratings, with LeBron, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee, and Danny Green posting offensive ratings of 141, 130, 205, and 196 (no, the 205 is not an exaggeration).

So what does this mean? Well, the Lakers have been criticized for not having a primary shot-creator outside of LeBron, but if this game was any indication, they can make up for this disparity in shot-creators by playing the transition game (it doesn’t hurt that LeBron is, you know, LeBron, and will probably average well over 30 points per game and 10 assists per game in the postseason).