Luka keeps dropping 40 like it’s a normal Tuesday, so I asked a simple question: who has actually averaged 40 a night over a real stretch? Rule: consecutive games played, 10 game minimum. Here’s the list.

Luka Dončić, 2026-27 season (9 games, active)

Luka opened the season with a 28 and a 23, then went nuclear: 52 in Utah, 41, 37, 45, 42, 40, and 53 tonight as the Lakers got revenge on the Blazers. That’s 40.1 PPG on the season. His last seven games are all 35/5/5, which ties Oscar Robertson for the longest such streak ever, and all seven also came with 5+ threes, something nobody has ever done. He’s third in Game Score and tied for second in True Shooting among everyone on this list.

The asterisk version: Luka’s last game of last season was a 43 point blowout loss in OKC where he tweaked his hamstring, scored 12 on 3 for 10, left in the third quarter and missed the rest of the season. Throw that game out and his run goes back to March 10, 2026: 20 games at exactly 40.0 PPG (800 points on the nose), with the 60 in Miami, the 51 against Chicago, and tonight’s 53 all in it. That would be the fifth longest 40 PPG run ever, behind Wilt, Harden, Baylor and Kobe and ahead of Embiid.

Wilt Chamberlain, Oct 1959 into the 1965-66 season: 507 games, 40.0 PPG

Wilt’s first 507 NBA games: 20,282 points, 40.0 a night, with 25 rebounds on 50.6% shooting. That’s six and a half seasons of averaging 40 and 25. The next longest run on this list is 40.

James Harden, Dec 8, 2018 to Mar 8, 2019: 40 games, 40.1 PPG

This is the best scoring run in recent memory, and it isn’t close. Since 1970 nobody else has held 40 a night for even 25 games. Harden did it for 40, nearly double Kobe’s 23. The famous part is the 32 game 30 point streak, second all time behind Wilt’s 65, but the 40 PPG window runs even longer.

The Rockets were struggling when it started, and Harden basically became a one man offense that dragged them back into the playoff picture. Highlights: 61 at MSG, back to back 57 and 58, and another 58 against Miami. At one point he joined Wilt and Kobe as the only players ever to score 700+ points in a 17 game span within a season. Across the full 40 games: 7.0 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 2.2 steals and 5.3 threes a night. He finished the season at 36.1 PPG, the highest since MJ’s 37.1 in 1986-87. Hate the step back and the foul baiting all you want, nobody in the last 50 years has sustained scoring like this.

Elgin Baylor, Nov 25, 1961 to Oct 20, 1962: 33 games, 40.1 PPG

Baylor spent 1961-62 on active duty in the Army Reserve, playing on weekend passes, and still dropped 63 at Philly, three 52s and a 50 in this run. The 33 games span two seasons and include 18 straight 30 point games. 18.6 rebounds a night as a 6’5” forward.

Kobe Bryant, Dec 10, 2005 to Jan 31, 2006: 23 games, 40.4 PPG

Peak “pass it to Smush and it’s coming right back.” This window has the 62 against Dallas in three quarters AND the 81 against Toronto. Kobe is also the only player here with three separate 40 PPG runs of 16+ games: 16 games in 2003, these 23 in 2005-06, and 17 games in March and April 2007, which included four straight 50 point games.

Joel Embiid, Dec 6, 2023 to Jan 22, 2024: 16 games, 40.2 PPG

The most efficient big man run ever. It opened with 50 in Washington, had 51 against Minnesota, and closed with the 70 point game against the Spurs. 57.4% from the field and 11.9 boards, in 34 minutes a night.

Michael Jordan, Nov 14 to Dec 12, 1986: 13 games, 40.1 PPG

Opened with 48 on Larry Bird’s Celtics, then rattled off nine straight 40 point games to close it out. MJ went 1 for 7 from three during the whole run, averaged 2.7 steals and 1.6 blocks, and played 41.6 minutes a night.

Damian Lillard, Jan 17 to Feb 9, 2020: 12 games, 40.2 PPG

Dame Time at its peak: 61 against the Warriors, 50 against Indiana, 51 against Utah, with 9.2 assists a game and 49.3% from three. This run doesn’t get nearly enough love.

Steph Curry, Mar 29 to Apr 19, 2021: 11 games, 40.0 PPG

Exactly 440 points in 11 games, as close to the line as it gets. Steph became the oldest player ever (33) to score 30+ in 11 straight games, and he hit 78 threes at 49.7% along the way.

THE NUMBERS (40+ PPG over consecutive games, per game averages)

Run

G

PTS

FG%

3PM

3P%

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

TS%

GmSc

Wilt ‘59 to ‘66

507

40.0

50.6

n/a

n/a

25.0

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

52.5

n/a

Harden ‘18-19

40

40.1

44.0

5.3

35.9

7.0

7.1

2.2

0.8

4.9

61.9

29.5

Baylor ‘61 to ‘62

33

40.1

44.1†

n/a

n/a

18.6†

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

50.6†

n/a

Kobe ‘05-06

23

40.4

46.8

2.9

37.9

5.7

4.0

1.6

0.4

3.3

60.2

27.7

Embiid ‘23-24

16

40.2

57.4

1.2

41.7

11.9

5.1

1.3

1.9

3.6

67.9

34.4

MJ ‘86-87

13

40.1

47.8

0.1

¹⁄₇

6.2

3.7

2.7

1.6

2.2

55.0

29.3

Lillard ‘19-20

12

40.2

51.0

6.2

49.3

4.8

9.2

1.1

0.2

3.4

67.7

32.3

Curry ‘20-21

11

40.0

54.1

7.1

49.7

6.1

4.5

0.6

0.3

3.9

73.8

29.8

Luka ‘26-27 (active)

9

40.1

49.8

5.8

41.9

7.8

7.7

1.7

0.7

4.9

67.9

31.3

†Based only on games with complete box score data: shot attempts in 26 of 33 games, rebounds in 27.

Quick rankings:

Length: Wilt (507), Harden (40), Baylor (33), Kobe (23), Embiid (16), MJ (13), Lillard (12), Curry (11), Luka (9, active)

Game Score (1980s on): Embiid (34.4), Lillard (32.3), Luka (31.3), Curry (29.8), Harden (29.5), MJ (29.3), Kobe (27.7)

True Shooting: Curry (73.8), Luka and Embiid (67.9, tied), Lillard (67.7), Harden (61.9), Kobe (60.2), MJ (55.0), Wilt (52.5), Baylor (50.6)