Earlier this week, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid scored 70 points in a particularly cruel evisceration of Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. On Friday night, perhaps with a bit of a chip on his shoulder because of a Draft night trade back in 2018, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic came into Atlanta on a mission to make sure that Embiid wasn't the only player this year to join the NBA's 70-point club.

Luka Doncic's 73-point explosion — the fourth highest scoring game in NBA history — against the Atlanta Hawks comes just two days after the Mavericks All-Star had a disappointing performance in a testy loss versus the Phoenix Suns, where a Suns fan in attendance was nearly kicked out of the arena because of profane comments shouted in the direction of Doncic, regarding his weight and stamina. On Friday night, in 45 minutes of action where Doncic's workload was far heavier than normal, he proved just how idiotic the notion is that he's out of shape.

With their 70-point performances, Doncic and Embiid have joined one of the NBA's most exclusive clubs. In league history, the following players have scored 70 points in a single game… Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, Kobe Bryant, David Robinson, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain.

It's worth noting that Doncic's 76% field goal percentage is the highest of any 70-point performance in league history, and his 33 field goal attempts are the lowest of any game in which a player scored 65 or more points in a game. Allow me to translate that for you… this was one of the most impressive individual performances we've seen in NBA history, and with it, the Mavericks put a stop to a three-game skid.