LeBron James, Kevin Durant and James Harden are the top scorers in the NBA today, but they have not yet scored 40+ in the halftime in the regular season, and who has accomplished such a feat in nearly 25 years of NBA history?
James has set the longest NBA record for 17 consecutive seasons to average 25+ points per game in the regular season, Durant has been ranked third in NBA history 4 times and ranked first among active players, Harden has averaged 30+ points per game in regular seasons for three consecutive seasons and won the NBA leading scorer, and Stephen Curry, who created the NBA's three-point boom, has also averaged 30+ points per game in the regular season for 2 seasons, and they can be said to be the top scorers in the league today. However, the four of them have not yet scored 40+ in the regular season at halftime.
The last time an NBA player scored 40+ in the regular season was 2017's Devin Booker. In the Suns' defeat to the Celtics on March 24, 2017, Booker played the full second half, scoring 51 points at halftime with 53.8 percent shooting and 33.3 percent three-point shooting, becoming the second player to score 50+ in the last 25 years and the only player in the active duty to accomplish such a feat.
In the 2016-17 season, there were two players with 40+ points at half-time, and Klay Thompson had such an amazing move in addition to Booker. In the Warriors' victory over the Pacers on Dec. 5, 2016, Thompson played 18 minutes in the first half and scored 40 points from 68.2 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from three-point range. It is worth mentioning that Thompson is the only player in the active game to score 40+ in the first half of the regular season, and one of only two players in the past 25 years to have performed in this way.
The only other NBA active player to score 40+ at halftime in the regular season is Jimmy Butler. In the Bulls' victory over the Raptors on Jan. 3, 2016, Butler played the full second half and scored 40 points from 73.7 percent shooting and 66.7 percent from three-point range. It is worth mentioning that Butler only scored two points in the first half of that game for 15 minutes, but his sudden explosion in the second half helped the Bulls achieve a big comeback.
Since the NBA officially began to have detailed single-quarter statistics in the 1996-97 season, only one player has scored 40+ in the regular season at halftime multiple times, and that is Kobe Bryant, who has accomplished this feat three times and maintained two NBA records for the highest in the nearly 25 years. Bryant scored 42 points in the first half of the Lakers' victory over the Wizards on March 28, 2003, with 73.7 percent shooting and 72.7 percent three-point shooting, the highest first-half scoring record for a player in the NBA in nearly 25 years; Bryant scored 40 points in the second half of the Lakers' victory over the Clippers on January 7, 2006 with 51.7 percent shooting and 54.5 percent three-point shooting; Bryant also scored 40 points in the Second Half of the Lakers' victory over the Raptors on January 22, 2006. He scored 55 points in the second half with 64.3 percent shooting and 54.5 percent three-point shooting, the highest halftime scoring record for a player in nearly 25 years of NBA history!
In addition, in the nearly 25 years of NBA history, there have been three players who have scored 40+ points at halftime, namely Michael Reed, Blanton Jennings and Deron Williams, all of whom have scored 40+ at halftime each. Who do you think will be the next player to score 40+ at halftime in an official NBA game?