Which NBA Players Scored the Most Points in a Single Game? Many basketball fans consider themselves experts when they say a statement such as – defense wins games. Still, we would all agree that the reason why we watch the game is actually scoring.

During the 75 years of NBA history, there have been many players who were superb scorers some of them literally unstoppable, especially when they have a special night.

The NBA has seen many performances from its biggest superstars during the years who have found their place in the history books as some of the best ever.

The 100 Point Game: Which NBA Players Scored the Most Points in a Single Game?

Every average basketball fan has heard of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game. The black and white image of Chamberlain holding up ‘100’ written in simple marker on white paper is one of the most famous images in sports history and probably a record that will stand forever.

It was March 2, 1962, Chamberlain’s third season in the NBA. He has already won the Rookie of The Year and league MVP awards and was setting his sights on another big season. At 7-1, to say he was a dominant force was an understatement.

On that particular night against the New York Knicks, Chamberlain made 36 of his 68 shots from the field and 28 of his 32 free throws as his Philadelphia Warriors won 169-147.

Another proof of how great of a scorer Wilt Chamberlain was is the fact that he hold six of the ten highest-scoring individual games in NBA history.

The third-highest scoring individual performance also belongs to Wilt Chamberlain who scored 78 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a triple-overtime 151-147 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on December 8, 1961.

Chamberlain shot 31-of-62 from the field and 16-of-31 from the free-throw line and added 43 rebounds.

In 1962, Chamberlain scored 73 points on two occasions.

On January 13, 1962, in a 135-117 win over Chicago Packers, Chamberlain made 29 out of 48 field-goal attempts and 15-of-25 free throws.

Next season the Warriors moved to San Francisco but that didn’t change much for Wilt as on November 16, he made 29-of-43 field goal attempts and 15-of-19 free throws in a 127-111 win over the New York Knicks.

Two weeks previous, Chamberlain scored 72 in a 127-115 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers going 29-of-48 from the field and 14-of-18 from the stripe.

His sixth and last time to score at least 70 was on March 10, 1963, when he went 27-of-38 from the field and 16-of-22 from the free-throw line in a 163-148 loss to the Syracuse Nationals.

Has Anybody Gotten Close to Wilt?

The second-highest scoring record in a single game belongs to Kobe Bryant who went on to score 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in a 122-104 victory on January 22, 2006. 

Interested in more of Kobe Bryant’s greatness check out this other great article where we covered players who won the most scoring titles.

The Lakers trailed 14 points at halftime to the Raptors and Bryant simply took his game to another level.

Bryant scored 51 points after the Raptors extended a 63-49 halftime lead to 71-53. The Lakers outscored the Raptors 38-14 to finish the third quarter to go ahead for good. Kobe, who was 27-years-old at the time, shot 28-of-46 from the floor, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range, and 18-of-20 from the foul line.

What Are Other Notable Performances Towards the Top of the List?

Chamberlain wasn’t the only player who has scored 73 points in a single game as David Thompson did that as well. The Denver Nuggets shooting guard had the game of his career on April 9, 1978, in the last game of the season.

Thompson’s historic night was sparked by a race for the scoring title with fellow NBA legend George Gervin, who played for the San Antonio Spurs. Coach Larry Brown gave Thompson the green light to fire as many shots as he needed to take home the crown.

Thompson hoisted up 38 attempts, hitting 28 of them, and went to the line 20 times, converting 17. Thompson would match Gervin on scoring average at 27.2 points per game after the contest, but the Spurs star won the tiebreaker on total points.

The Lakers legend Elgin Baylor was the first player who ever scored more than 70 points in-game when he counted to 71 on November 15, 1960, in a 123-108 win over the Knicks. Baylor shot 28-of-48 from the field and 15-of-19 from the charity stripe, adding 25 rebounds.

David Robinson is another player who has scored 71 points. On April 24, 1994, ‘The Admiral’ went off for a career-high and franchise-record against the LA Clippers in a 112-97 road win.

Prior to the final game day of the 1993-94 regular season, Robinson trailed second-year center, Shaquille O’Neal, by 33 points but this tally helped the 7-1 center win the lone scoring title of his career with an average of 29.8 points per game. Playing 44 minutes, Robinson shot 26-of-41 from the field while recording 14 rebounds and five assists.

Current Players with High Scoring Games?

Devin Booker is the only active player whose individual scoring record in a single game is among the top 10 in history.

On March 24th in 2018, Devin Booker went off for a career-high and franchise-record 70 points against the Celtics in a 130-120 loss at the TD Garden.

Aged 20 at that time, Booker was the youngest player ever to score at least 60 or 70 in an NBA game.

Playing 45 minutes, Booker shot 21-of-40 from the field and a near-perfect 24-of-26 from the free-throw line, while also recording eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

Which NBA Players Scored the Most Points in a Single Game?

Every single player on this list is a Hall of Famer. Basketball experts recognize the importance of scoring titles.

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