who was the first denver nuggets player to score 40 points in a game

David Thompson put up 40 points versus the Trail Blazers on February 8, 1977.

Interpreted as:

Who was the first denver nuggets player to score 40 or more points in a game?

	NAME	DATE	PTS	TM		OPP	MIN	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TOV	PF
1	David Thompson D. Thompson	2/8/1977	40	DEN	@	POR	44	4	3	1	1	17	25	68.0				6	7	85.7	71.2	1	3		5
2	Dan Issel D. Issel	2/25/1977	40	DEN	@	KCK	31	9	3	1	0	14	17	82.4				12	14	85.7	86.4	2	7		5
3	David Thompson D. Thompson	3/9/1977	40	DEN	@	PHI	50	4	4	1	1	14	27	51.9				12	14	85.7	60.3	3	1		4
4	David Thompson D. Thompson	3/23/1977	44	DEN	vs	SAS	40	5	7	1	0	18	30	60.0				8	13	61.5	61.6	1	4		4
5	David Thompson D. Thompson	4/10/1977	40	DEN	@	NOJ	40	3	2	1	3	10	20	50.0				20	22	90.9	67.4	2	1		5
6	David Thompson D. Thompson	4/24/1977	40	DEN	@	POR	40	8	3	0	0	16	29	55.2				8	8	100.0	61.5	4	4		2
7	David Thompson D. Thompson	11/26/1977	42	DEN	vs	IND	39	4	4	1	3	13	23	56.5				16	17	94.1	68.9	1	3	6	3
8	David Thompson D. Thompson	1/12/1978	41	DEN	@	HOU	37	6	2	1	1	17	24	70.8				7	8	87.5	74.5	4	2	4	5
9	David Thompson D. Thompson	1/31/1978	41	DEN	@	NYK	42	5	7	1	0	14	22	63.6				13	14	92.9	72.8	3	2	2	2
10	David Thompson D. Thompson	2/10/1978	43	DEN	@	SEA	44	5	4		0	18	29	62.1				7	9	77.8	65.2	2	3		4
11	Dan Issel D. Issel	2/22/1978	40	DEN	vs	IND	33	6	0	2	2	17	29	58.6				6	6	100.0	63.2	2	4	2	3
12	David Thompson D. Thompson	3/17/1978	40	DEN	@	NJN	48	8	5	2	2	18	29	62.1				4	5	80.0	64.1	4	4	4	3
13	David Thompson D. Thompson	3/26/1978	42	DEN	@	NOJ	41	6	3	3	1	18	26	69.2				6	7	85.7	72.2	0	6	3	2
14	David Thompson D. Thompson	4/9/1978	73	DEN	@	DET	43	7	2	0	1	28	38	73.7				17	20	85.0	78.0	3	4	4	2
15	George McGinnis G. McGinnis	1/12/1979	41	DEN	vs	NYK	34	11	2	5	0	15	23	65.2				11	12	91.7	72.5	3	8	2	3
16	David Thompson D. Thompson	4/8/1979	44	DEN	@	PHI	39	4	3	1	4	18	26	69.2				8	9	88.9	73.4	1	3	3	2
17	George McGinnis G. McGinnis	1/9/1980	43	DEN	@	HOU	42	12	5	4	0	14	17	82.4	0	0		15	17	88.2	87.8	2	10	3	5
18	Dan Issel D. Issel	1/31/1980	47	DEN	vs	NJN	41	8	2	4	2	14	24	58.3	0	0		19	23	82.6	68.9	4	4	1	4
19	Alex English A. English	3/20/1980	40	DEN	@	KCK	39	14	2	2	0	17	27	63.0	1	1	100.0	5	6	83.3	67.5	6	8	5	5
20	David Thompson D. Thompson	11/1/1980	43	DEN	vs	SEA	36	5	2	0	0	17	28	60.7	0	0		9	10	90.0	66.4	4	1	4	3
21	David Thompson D. Thompson	11/23/1980	40	DEN	@	PHX	36	1	2	1	0	15	28	53.6	0	0		10	11	90.9	60.9	0	1	5	2
22	David Thompson D. Thompson	3/1/1981	44	DEN	vs	CLE	36	5	2	1	1	18	28	64.3	0	0		8	10	80.0	67.9	4	1	3	3
23	Alex English A. English	3/18/1981	42	DEN	@	KCK	48	8	4	2	2	17	27	63.0	0	0		8	8	100.0	68.8	2	6	5	4
24	David Thompson D. Thompson	3/29/1981	43	DEN	@	LAL	42	5	1	1	1	17	27	63.0	0	0		9	11	81.8	67.5	2	3	4	2
25	David Thompson D. Thompson	1/2/1982	41	DEN	@	SAS	27	2	0	0	2	13	21	61.9	0	0		15	19	78.9	69.8	2	0	3	5