Over the past week alone, the NBA world has been treated to a few high-octane scoring performances. On Friday night, it was Luka Doncic's turn to steal the show. The Dallas Mavericks star, four days after Joel Embiid treated Philadelphia 76ers fans to a 70-point outing, dropped a career-high 73 of his own in a 148-144 win over the Atlanta Hawks. As exciting as this week has been even for supporters of other teams, one can only imagine what a delight it is for their peers to witness greatness in action, with Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan even predicting even more fireworks in store.
Posting on his official Twitter (X) account after Doncic's 73-point masterclass and Devin Booker's 62-point outing on Friday night in a 133-131 Phoenix Suns loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Bulls star went out on a limb and predicted that one player would soon reach Wilt Chamberlain territory and cross the triple-digit mark in scoring in a single game.
“Somebody going to score a 100 before the season over!” DeRozan wrote.
That right there from DeMar DeRozan is a bold prediction; there are only 13 instances in NBA history where a player has scored 70 or more points, one where someone scored 80, and one with 100, with the historic game belonging to the late great Wilt Chamberlain. The explosive scoring nights may be coming in droves, but it will take a perfect storm for anyone to score 70 again, let alone 100, which makes the Bulls star's prediction nothing more than a pipe dream.
After all, teams are reacting accordingly whenever someone is in the middle of a historic game. On Friday night, the Hawks were double-teaming Luka Doncic in the backcourt just to get the ball out of his hands. During Karl-Anthony Towns' 62-point outing, the Charlotte Hornets were able to frustrate the Minnesota Timberwolves as the star big man hunted for his points.
The game also must remain competitive for teams to keep their stars on the floor on historic nights; had the Mavericks, 76ers, Suns, and Timberwolves actually blown out their opponents, perhaps the historic scoring nights would not have come to fruition. Nonetheless, for Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, it never hurts to dream, as seeing a 100-point night in the NBA in the age of social media would be a momentous occasion.