By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
March 29th, 2024 will always be a day to remember when talking about EuroLeague Basketball.
Breaking the record for most points scored in a game with 50 against ALBA Berlin, Nigel Hayes-Davis became the standout leader when it comes to highest-scoring performances in the EuroLeague.
But who are the other names on the list? Let’s take a look at the most memorable scoring performances ever in the competition since the 2000-01 season, going from 40 points and higher.
Standing on top: 50-point showdown by Nigel Hayes-Davis
Fenerbahce is leading by 35 points (101-66) on an already incredible night in the Ulker Sports And Event Hall of Istanbul, destroying ALBA Berlin to stay in the race for the home-court advantage in the EuroLeague Playoffs.
But with 23.6 seconds left, everybody in the stands is on their feet to likely witness history. Sehmus Hazer is inbounding the ball, with Georgios Papagiannis receiving it on the other side of the floor, avoiding the opponents’ full-court pressure.
The ball goes immediately into Nigel Hayes-Davis’ hands, who speeded up like it was already August in Paris for the Olympic Games. All the attention is on Fenerbahce‘s forward, completely surrounded by every ALBA Berlin player on the court.
With less than 21 seconds on the clock, he goes up for the euro-step, climbing up the rim with the right-handed layup. History has just been made: 50 points in a single EuroLeague game. Nobody ever did that before, and probably quite some time will pass before somebody could even tie it.
In 29:56 minutes of playing time, Fenerbahce’s number 11 has put up a 50-point piece with an excellent shooting performance: 9/11 from two-point range, 9/16 from three-point range, and 5/7 at the line. The standout scoring leader is here to stay.
Shane Larkin’s 49-point party vs Bayern Munich
Before yesterday, another Turkish powerhouse representative was on top of the all-time EuroLeague highest-scoring performances. Looking back at a night of late-November in 2019, Shane Larkin was the man on the mission, once again against a German team.
In an unforgettable 2019-20 run that would have eventually opened Anadolu Efes‘ dominant chapter in the EuroLeague, the former Baskonia guard left an adamant mark against Bayern Munich, living a never-forgettable game in Istanbul.
Subbed off by Ergin Ataman with 4:21 minutes left in the game when he was enjoying himself with 38 points, the American guard needed only three more to tie with the all-time record, which was standing at 41 points.
And he knew it, as he was visibly upset. “He told me “Don’t worry, you will break the record”, and then he put me back in, called a couple of plays for me, and it happened”, he then revealed in the post-game flash interview to comment on history being made.
Not only he tied the record with a frontal three-pointer after Greg Monroe’s turnover with 2:42 minutes left, but he went on to extend it all the way to 49 points, with 10/12 from beyond the arc. Sufficient to be the scoring king in a single EuroLeague game before Nigel Hayes-Davis happened last night.
The 41-point club: Tyrese Rice, Alphonso Ford, and more
As previously said, Shane Larkin knew the record was 41. The American guard wanted to enjoy the view from up high all by himself because the company was large when it came to the 41-point club.
The most recent of such performances came one week after the Anadolu Efes superstar could destroy Bayern Munich with that three-point showdown.
After already leaving a huge mark in the EuroLeague with Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2014 and dominating in the BCL with Bamberg, Tyrese Rice came back to the competition in the 2019-20 season to join Panathinaikos at 32 years of age, wanting to prove he still belonged to the elite of European basketball.
In what would have gone down as the latest Panathinaikos‘ official victory in the EuroLeague Greek derby against Olympiacos, he erupted for 41 points coming off the bench, ending with a shooting night of 5/7 from two, 8/16 in three-pointers and 7/7 at the line.
Before Tyrese Rice, another American guard would have reached the same scoring checkpoint, but this time in Top 16 action, back in the 2012-13 EuroLeague.
It’s the case of Bobby Brown, one of Montepaschi Siena’s most memorable players during the white-and-green team’s run as basketball’s undisputed ruler in Italy, while being always there when fighting for the big prize Internationally.
On January 4th, 2013, Fenerbahce was on the other side of history, being defeated by Siena 98-92 at home. Most importantly, that was the night when the former NBAer had 41 points and 7 assists, receiving 12 fouls while shooting 8/12 from two, 4/6 from three, and a perfect 12/12 in free throws.
We have seen only American performances so far, but Europeans are present as well when it comes to scoring 41 points in a EuroLeague game. It indeed happened in the 2002-23 season, with another Efes – Pilsen, not Anadolu yet – player who was involved.
Before Kristaps Porzingis and the Latvian national team’s run in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the Baltic country was remembered basketball-wise also for Kaspars Kambala’s unbelievable night against Barcelona.
Despite losing 92-91 at home to the Catalan team, the dominant center ended with a monster double-double of 41 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 18/28 from two. If he didn’t miss five free throws out of a total of 10 attempts, maybe he would have finished with an even higher amount.
When it comes to unforgettable scoring performances, Carlton Myers must be involved, someway somehow. The legendary Italian guard currently holds the unbreakable record of most points scored in a game in Italy with 87, back in the 1994-95 season with Rimini against Udine.
Six years later, at the beginning of March 2001, he put on a show with Fortitudo Bologna in the EuroLeague Playoffs, pushing the Italian team to the Semifinals against eternal rivals of Kinder Virtus.
Deciding Game 3 of the series against Real Madrid in a packed Paladozza, he ended alongside Gregor Fucka with 41 points, 5 steals, and 14 fouls drawn, shooting 6/9 from two-point range, 5/11 from three-point territory, and delivering at the line with 14 converted free throws out of 19 total attempts.
How can we talk about legendary EuroLeague scoring performances without naming the scorer par excellence of the competition?
Alphonso Ford, whose legacy was honored after his tragic passing by calling the EuroLeague Top Scorer of the Season Trophy with his name, is also present in this list, having broken the record only a few weeks before Carlton Myers could tie it against the Spanish giant.
Another Spanish powerhouse was a victim, but TAU Ceramica still managed to survive in Game 1 of their Playoffs series against Peristeri, led by the 30-year-old EuroLeague rookie.
Alphonso Ford, who would have joined Olympiacos the following season, ended with 41 points and 9 assists, displaying a shooting performance of 9/19 from two, 3/4 from three, and 14/15 at the charity stripe after having received 13 fouls.
Dzanan Musa isn’t alone when scoring 40 points
Recency bias always makes the difference, doesn’t it? Well, if that’s correct, we all still have that crazy 4OT game between Real Madrid and Anadolu Efes in our eyes, with Dzanan Musa taking the spotlight.
The Bosnian star was absolutely dominating in making the reigning champions overcome obstacles against his former team, ending with a night to remember in the WiZink Center.
Spending a total of 45:25 minutes on the court, the 24-year-old finished with the MVP of the Night as he dropped a career-high 40 points (13/15 from two-point range, 2/5 in three-pointers and 8/11 at the free throw line) and 8 assists in front of the then-record-holder Shane Larkin.
It looks like this list can’t really go on without mentioning Shane Larkin one more time.
Only a few months after breaking the all-time record, Anadolu Efes‘ guard was eager for more, and he proved that in the last official game played in the 2019-20 season, interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pushing Ergin Ataman’s team to a then-canceled 1st place with a 24-4 record, bouncing back from a tight road defeat to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Shane Larkin had 40 points with 10/15 from beyond the arc, 4/4 at the line, and 3/6 in shooting two-pointers against Olympiacos. A legendary season.
France is the country where the All-Time EuroLeague Leading Scorer is currently playing, representing Monaco. However, Mike James hasn’t yet made his presence into this game record-holders list.
The same country is the connection link to another 40-point protagonist. After not staying with Fenerbahce following a good 2004-05 season, the American forward had a chip on his shoulder when facing the yellow-and-blue Turkish team in the 2007-08 EuroLeague Regular Season.
Despite not avoiding the 97-90 defeat at home, he still went home with a 40-point losing effort, shooting 9/11 from two, 6/13 in three-pointers, and 4/5 at the line. He would have eventually won the Alphonso Ford Trophy after leading the whole competition in points scored per game at 21.8.
How could a Lithuanian player not be included in the holders for the highest-scoring performances ever in the EuroLeague? Impossible.
Arvydas Macijauskas comes in for the solution, representing TAU Ceramica in the 2003-04 season. While his countryman and homonym Arvydas Sabonis was dominating as Regular Season and Top 16 MVP at 40 years old, he provided an unforgettable offensive night against ASVEL.
Giving the Basque team the 92-76 victory in front of 8.800 fans in the Fernando Buesa Arena, he ended with 40 points thanks to excellence in free-throws (14/14) and three-pointers (6/6), while also converting 4/7 inside the area.