Final Stats:
— 45 points, 3 rebounds and 0 assists on 16-of-24 FG, 5-of-6 3P, 8-of-11 FT in 43 minutes
Date:
—Apr. 23, 2003
One odd fact from that game:
— With this 45-point game, Bonzi Wells held the Blazers’ single game Playoff scoring record for 11 consecutive years, before LaMarcus Aldridge scored 46 against Houston in 2014.
The initial thought was to put Bonzi Wells’ 37-point masterpiece of this same season against Detroit, when, all told, he scored 37 points, a number that only 8 players could do on Detroit’s vaunted defense from 2002-03 to 2004-05.
On April 23, 2003, Bonzi Wells set a Trail Blazers playoff record with 45 points against Dallas in the first round!
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 19, 2020
Today's the last day to vote for your 2000s Decade Team: https://t.co/jCRqPWcTVC pic.twitter.com/7524kikntn
Instead, Wells’ surprise 45-point game in the Playoffs against Dallas deserves the nod. The Dallas Mavericks were never known for defense in the Nowitzki-Nash era, but they were the furthest thing from it in trying to guard Bonzi Wells, who massacred Michael Finley and Steve Nash all night long.
The game itself showed all of the nuances of early-2000s Portland Trail Blazers basketball. They ran guard-for-guard screens with Wells and Stoudamire, post-ups — a Wells specialty — and even found time to drain five 3-pointers.
On a team featuring Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire, Scottie Pippen, Zach Randolph, Ruben Patterson and Arvydas Sabonis, Wells managed to average a team-high 19.3 points per game, an accomplishment in itself.
From 1998-99 to 2002-03, only three teams had a better win-loss record than the Blazers. And over that frame, they had only one 20-point per game scorer in the Playoffs (2002, Wallace). Wells clocks in at an honorable second.