When you hear that a player on the Houston Rockets or Milwaukee Bucks scores 50 points in one night, you automatically assume that the sharp shooters would be either James Harden of the Rockets and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks. This season alone Harden has five 50 point games and one 60 point game. Antetokounmpo has one 50 point game himself and is averaging 30 points a game this season on the best team in the NBA.
However this past week there were two unsuspecting shooting guards that scored 50 points in one game. Eric Gordon of Indianapolis, Indiana had 50 points for the Rockets in a 126-117 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday. Then, Khris Middleton of Charleston, South Carolina had 51 points for the Bucks in a 151-131 win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
The fact that the Rockets beat the Jazz by nine points was impressive when you consider all-stars Harden and Russell Westbrook did not play. Harden did not play due to a thigh ailment and Westbrook sat out because it was a back-to-back game for Houston.
In a remarkable statistic, Gordon last scored 40 points in a game on January 23, 2009. He notched 41 points for the Los Angeles Clippers in a 107-104 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Gordon now holds the NBA record (almost 11 years) for the longest span between 40 point games according to ESPN.
It was also an historic night for Middleton, who were without Antetokounmpo with a shoulder injury. He became only the third Bucks player ever to register 50 points and 10 rebounds in a game. The others were Antetokounmpo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Middleton and Antetokounmpo are only the third teammates to get 50 points and 10 rebounds in a game in the same season. Antetokounmpo achieved that mark in a 122-118 Bucks win over the Jazz on November 25.
