60-Year-Old NBA Record in Danger as Detroit Pistons’ Saddiq Bey Scores 51 Points vs Orlando Magic

Posted on by Jack Marks

The Detroit Pistons defeated the Orlando Magic 134-120 on Thursday night, snapping a four-game losing run in the NBA. Saddiq Bey had a career-high 51 points. With 10 3-pointers in 14 attempts, Bey matched the franchise record. Overall, he was 17 for 26.

The Magic handed up 21 points in the first quarter to Bey two nights after being burned for 16 points in the first quarter by Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving on his way to a 60-point game. Bey continued what has already been a torrid month of individual scoring in the NBA.

NBA star Saddiq Bey

According to ESPN Stats & Information analysis, Bey’s effort was the league’s sixth 50-point game in March, the most in a calendar month in the prior 50 seasons. The last time there were nine 50-point games in a month was in December 1962.

NBA record set to be broken with Saddiq Bey’s 51-point game

This season, there have been 17 50-point games, and Saddiq Bey is the 13th player to do it, tying the record for most in a single season in NBA history. He is the Pistons’ youngest player with a 50-point game, having done so at the age of 22.

Pistons star Saddiq Bey has already been in top form this season so far.

 

“I saw those highlights and it was just very efficient. It was within the flow of the game,” Bey said of Irving. “That was a great performance to watch, and I think just throughout the NBA there’s been a lot of great performances in the past two weeks. I’m just grateful to be in this league to have the opportunity.”

With Bey’s 51 points, a 60-year-old NBA record for the most 50-point games in a month may be at risk. There were nine 50-point games in December 1962, so with two weeks left in March, we might see this record tumble before April rolls around. Six of the nine in 1962 belonged to Wilt Chamberlain, who was then playing for the San Francisco Warriors, and the other three to Elgin Baylor, who was then playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.