Year in review: The most dominating individual performances of 2021

Fields was struggling heading into a College Football Playoff matchup against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, having thrown just 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in his previous three games. Unfortunately for Clemson, he got right in a big way, going 22-of-28 for 385 yards and 6 touchdowns, fighting off banged-up ribs to lead the Buckeyes to a 49-28 win and a national championship berth.

He would go on to set the all-time career three-pointers record later in the year, but Curry got 2021 off to a roaring start with a dominant performance in a 137-122 win over the Trail Blazers. Curry scored a career-high 62 points in stunningly efficient fashion. He went 18-of-31 from the floor, 8-of-16 from three-point range, and 18-of-19 from the line. What made the performance truly crazy was that Curry needed just 36 minutes to accomplish the feat.

Pity the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Those two AFC South squads were on the wrong end of historic performances by Henry and Taylor. Henry literally carried the Titans to an AFC South title, rolling up 250 yards and 2 touchdowns on 34 carries on the Texans, and Taylor rumbled to a franchise-record 253 yards and 2 touchdowns on 30 carries against Jacksonville. Taylor’s big game clinched a playoff spot for the Colts, who finished 11-5.

Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner, proved why he deserved the award with a spectacular one-man demolition job on Ohio State in a 52-24 national title game romp. Incredibly enough, it took him just one-half of football to put up the following numbers: 12 receptions, 215 yards, 3 touchdowns. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban put it best when he said, “Heaven knows what he would have done if he played the whole game.”

Unsurprisingly, Wayne Gretzky has the record for most assists in an NHL game, with seven (he actually shares the record with Detroit’s Billy Taylor Sr., who initially set the mark in 1947. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl came up one helper short of tying the record, notching 6 assists in the Oilers’ 8-5 victory over the Ottawa Senators. It was another spectacular performance by a player who has emerged as one of the very best in the world.

VanVleet has carved out a nice NBA career for himself, but he took things to another level against the Orlando Magic. VanVleet scored a career-high 54 points in a 123-108 win. VanVleet’s performance was even more efficient than Stephen Curry’s huge game a month prior. He went 17-of-23 from the field, 11-of-14 from three-point range, and 9-of-9 from the line. It was the most points in a 70/70/100 performance (field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage) in league history.

You likely don’t know who Penn is, and you might never hear his name again after this. Still, the Long Island forward had a massive game in a 78-70 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson. Penn posted 33 points, 20 rebounds and 6 steals, in the process becoming – along with Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum in 2011 and Marist’s Chavaughn Lewis in 2013 – just the third college basketball player in the last decade with at least 33 points, 15 rebounds and 5 steals in a game.

Murray had himself a field day against the Cavaliers and made NBA history in the process. Murray scored 50 points in a 120-103 win in Cleveland and did so without attempting a single free throw. It was the first 50-point game without a free-throw attempt in league history. Murray went 8-of-10 from three-point range, and 21-of-25 from the floor overall. Somewhere, James Harden wept.

McConnell isn’t a star, just a solid role player with the Pacers. In a 114-111 win over the Cavaliers, he posted a most unusual triple-double. McConnell notched just the 11^th triple-double involving steals since 1974, and just the second this century. What’s more, his 9 steals in the first half tied an NBA record for a half, and his total of 10 was one off the league record for a single game.

Gobert joined exclusive company with his performance against the Warriors. Only five other players in league history – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elvin Hayes, Bob McAdoo, Dikembe Mutombo, and Shaquille O’Neal – have recorded a game with at least 24 points, 28 rebounds, and 4 blocks, since the block became an official statistic in 1973-74 season. Coincidentally, that was the year after Wilt Chamberlain retired, so he definitely deserves unofficial inclusion in this club. Unfortunately for the Jazz, Golden State won the game, 131-119.

Zibanejad tortured the Flyers twice in barely a week’s time, putting up six-point games eight days apart. What’s more, each game was a three-goal, three-assist performance. We’ll give the nod, slightly, to his March 17th game, primarily because he was a plus-five in the game, versus a mere plus-three in the March 25^th contest. Either way, he destroyed Philadelphia, something fans in most other cities can probably appreciate.

Musgrove went from the Pirates to the Padres in an offseason trade, and immediately paid dividends for his new team, throwing the season’s first no-hitter in a stellar outing against the Rangers. Musgrove came within a hit-batsman of throwing a perfect game. Despite that one minor blemish, he struck out 10 and needed only a few above-average plays to get his no-no. Musgrove’s gem lit the fuse on a season defined by no-hitters, with eight thrown in all.

LaVine scored 50 points for the Bulls in what ended up a 120-108 win for the Hawks, but his point total was a sidebar to what he did in the first half. LaVine put up 39 in the first 24 minutes, including an astounding 25 straight points in the second quarter. LaVine’s 39 points were the third-most in a first half in the last 25 years, trailing only Kobe Bryant (42) and Klay Thompson (40).

deGrom’s season was cut short by injury, but when he was healthy, he was electrifying beyond belief, and his numbers were completely obscene. He only started 15 games before the Mets finally shut him down, and while virtually all of his performances were great, one stood above the rest. deGrom struck out 15 Washington hitters, walked none, and gave up just two hits in a complete-game shutout. deGrom’s game score of 98 was the second-best of 2021, second only to a 99 from a pitcher you’ll be reading about shortly.

Guerrero Jr. led the majors in home runs (48) and runs (123) in 2021, and the American League in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. He also finished second in the MVP voting to Shohei Ohtani. Guerrero kick-started his monster year with a huge game against the Nationals. Guerrero hit three homers, drove in 7 runs, and paced the Blue Jays to a 9-5 win. His was one of 14 three-homer games in the majors this season, but no player to post one made a bigger impact on the league.

Anytime you can tie Larry Bird for a record, you’ve had a good game. Tatum went off for 60 points, tying Bird’s single-game franchise point record. The Celtics needed every bit of Tatum’s performance, too, barely hanging on to beat the Spurs in overtime, 143-140. Tatum did plenty of his work at the foul line, going 15-of-17, and shooting 20-of-37 from the floor overall.

Doing something that only LeBron James and Kevin Durant have done previously is a pretty impressive feat, and while Anthony Edwards might not end up as one of the handful of best players to ever live, he still is a member of an elite fraternity with James and Durant. Edwards’ performance in a 139-135 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies was exceptional; the 19-year-old rookie scored 42 points and added in 7 assists and 6 rebounds. He joined James and Durant as the only teenagers with 40-5-5 games in league history.

The Baltimore Orioles had precious little to celebrate in a 52-110 season, but Means’ near-perfect game stood out as the best pitching performance of the year. The only Mariners hitter to reach base did so via a dropped third strike. Otherwise, Means was untouchable, striking out 12 Seattle hitters in a 113-pitch masterpiece. Means’ game score of 99 was the best in baseball in 2021, and part of a second full season that was considerably better than his 6-9 record indicated.

It is in no way depressing that I chose to refer to the then-36-year-old Carter as “ageless,” given that I’m currently 36 years old, but in hockey years, he’s certainly getting up there. That didn’t stop him from matching the NHL season-high by tallying four times in an 8-4 Penguins win. Carter scored 9 goals in just 14 games with Pittsburgh and added four more in the team’s opening-round playoff loss to the Islanders.

One of the most memorable performances of the year came in defeat; Lillard went crazy against the Nuggets in Game 5 of Portland’s opening-round series, scoring 17 of his 55 points in the game’s two overtimes, to go along with 11 more in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t just Lillard’s point total that made the effort so spectacular, it was the degree of difficulty. Seriously, just take three minutes out of your day and watch this.

Antetokounmpo etched his name into the history books with an all-time performance in Milwaukee’s NBA Finals-clinching win over the Suns. Antetokounmpo delivered the Bucks their second title with 50 points, setting the record for the most points ever in a Finals-clinching win, surpassing Michael Jordan’s 45-point outing against the Utah Jazz in 1998.

After Russia took team gold in women’s gymnastics, Lee stepped up in a big way in the women’s all-around final, taking home the gold after finishing third in qualifying. Lee bested Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade for the gold, and in the process brought home the United States’ fifth-straight Olympic gold in the individual all-around.

Despite the rise of worthy challengers, namely Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, Ledecky, who was the most decorated female athlete at the 2016 Summer Olympics, continued to bring the goods. She took home gold medals in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events, and her preliminary heat time of 15:35:35 in the 1,500-meters set an Olympic record. Ledecky also added silver medals in the 400-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle events.

Jones, perpetually one of the NFL’s most underrated pass rushers, opened his 2021 season with a bang, singlehandedly destroying Tennessee’s offense with a five-sack performance. Two of Jones’ sacks also forced Ryan Tannehill fumbles, which were recovered by Arizona and led to 14 points, in what turned into a 38-13 rout for the Cardinals.

The Crimson Tide faced a stern test from 21^st-ranked Arkansas, with the game going back and forth all afternoon. Young, the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, was the difference for the Tide, throwing for a school-record 559 yards and 5 touchdowns on 31-of-40 passing. It was the second-most passing yards in a game in SEC history, trailing only Mississippi State’s K.J. Costello, who threw for 623 against LSU in 2020.