National Basketball Association

LeBron or Durant: Who had the better 50-point performance?

Published Mar. 14, 2022 5:43 p.m. ET

Two of the NBA's best scorers are reaching peak form just weeks away from the postseason.

Kevin Durant and LeBron James, each within a percentage point of the league scoring crown, wowed in recent games with a pair of dominant 50-point performances in spite of underachieving rosters.

James willed a struggling Lakers team past the Wizards with a 50-point performance on Friday, also grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out six assists in 36 minutes.

Meanwhile, Durant helped the Nets best the in-city rival Knicks with 53 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 43 minutes on Sunday.

On Monday's edition of "Undisputed," Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless debated which superstar had the better performance, with Bayless unsurprisingly questioning James' competition and late-game antics.

"Do you have any shame at all LeBron?" Bayless said. "It's the Wizards, it's the freaking Wizards and you celebrate like that? You've lost it."

Bayless went on to say that Durant's heroic performance on Sunday showed the elite closing ability that he believes James lacks, after Durant sunk four-straight game-sealing free throws.

"What will Kevin Durant do that LeBron will never ever do?" Bayless asked. "He goes to the free throw line. We all know that LeBron James runs from the late-game free-throw line because he doesn't trust himself to stand there by himself. And [Durant] goes, ‘Swish.’"

Despite the Wizards (29-37) and Knicks (28-40) sporting similar records, Bayless insisted that Durant's 50-point game came against much hotter opposition, considering the Knicks had won three of four before taking on the Nets, including blowout road victories over the Mavericks and Clippers, and a narrow loss to the surging Grizzlies in Memphis.

The Wizards, conversely, took the floor without their leader and All-Star guard Bradley Beal.

Sharpe took a more arithmetic approach in comparing the performances, looking at James' superior efficiency and impact upon his teammates.

James missed just seven shots against Washington, and the Lakers also felt LeBron's absences heavily, as James posted a plus-22 when on the floor and L.A. posted a minus-9 without "The King" in play.

Durant finished at plus-11 and Brooklyn was minus-8 without him in the lineup.

James also went 6-for-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter.

"Everybody always loves to talk about the efficiency [with] which Kevin Durant plays," Sharpe said. "Well, I don't know. Kevin Durant was 51%, LeBron shot 72%. It took Kevin Durant 37 shots while it took LeBron 25 shots."

LeBron, not KD, had the better 50-point game — Shannon Sharpe I UNDISPUTED

LeBron James dropped 50 points in a win against the Washington Wizards on Friday that Frank Vogel called a quote, 'epic performance' afterward. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant dropped 53 points on Sunday against the New York Knicks. Shannon Sharpe explains why LeBron had the better 50-point performance over the weekend.

Sharpe also highlighted the lack of help LeBron had from Russell Westbrook and the cavalcade of aging, struggling Lakers. Westbrook scored just five points and was 2-for-11 shooting.

"[James] had a 185 pound anchor hanging around his neck, which is Russell Westbrook."

Regardless of who took the court beside them, it seems like there is little on this earth that can hold down James and Durant, at least during this past weekend.