Only Wilt Chamberlain (32 times), Kobe Bryant (6 times), Michael Jordan (5 times), Elgin Baylor (4 times), and James Harden have scored 60 or more points on multiple occasions (3 times). The single-game score record is held by Chamberlain, while the career mark is held by Russell Westbrook.
Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to score 100 or more points in a game three different times. His average of 50.7 points per game is also a record. Jordan is second with an average of 25.3 points per game. He's also the only other player to score 30 or more points in a game six times.
Baylor and Jordan are the only players to score 4,000 or more points in their careers. They both did so within the first four seasons of their careers.
Bryant is the only player in NBA history to score 60 or more points in a game seven times. His average of 81.8 points per game is also a record.
Westbrook has scored at least 20 points in each game this season, which is another record. He's the only player in NBA history to do so regularly during his first five seasons.
James Harden is the only other player who has started every game this season.
Not surprise, Michael Jordan tops the list of players with the most points in an NBA playoff game. Jordan had a whopping five appearances in the top ten. Jordan surpassed the 55-point mark three times, including once in 1988 and twice when leading the Bulls to NBA championships in 1993 and 1997. The other four players are all members of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The following table shows the five highest scoring games by a player in NBA playoff history:
Player Points Rebounds Assists Michael Jordan (88 points) 3 3 3 Derrick Rose (86 points) 2 10 6 Kobe Bryant (76 points) 2 12 6 LeBron James (73 points) 1 9 7 Shaquille O'Neal (72 points) 1 11 7
Including playoffs, this is where it gets interesting because there have been several attempts at breaking the record since then. In 2007, Kevin Durant of the Seattle Supersonics scored 56 points in a playoff game against the Phoenix Suns. In 2012, Derrick Rose had the second highest scoring game with 76 points when he was with the Chicago Bulls. Since then, no one has come close to these marks. The next highest score by a player in a playoff game is 57 points, which is reached by two people: Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook. They both scored 57 points in 2013 when they were playing for the Golden State Warriors and 2016 when they were with the Oklahoma City Thunder respectively.
Some members of the 50-point club couldn't compare their career stats to Allen Iverson, LeBron James, or even Carmelo Anthony. Here are the 15 worst players in NBA history to score 50 or more points in a game: Clifford Robison was never an exceptional NBA player, but he managed to stay in the league for 18 years, from 1989 to 2007. During that time, he scored 50 or more points five times - all with the Denver Nuggets. Before becoming a coach, Robison had only two other seasons where he scored more than 40 points.
Allen Iverson is one of the best basketball players of all time, and he's also known for something else: He was the most prolific scorer in NBA history. With 26,914 points, Iverson holds nearly every scoring record available in the league. However, it's possible to be so good at scoring that you ruin your own career. Iverson injured his ankle while trying to stop another player from getting past him on the court, which required surgery and ended his season.
Iverson's injury helped teammate Vince Carter become one of the greatest shooters in NBA history. Carter led the league in shooting percentage six times, finished in the top three seven times, and won the award for best shooter in the league each year from 2000-2007. If it wasn't for Iverson, Carter would probably still be playing in Canada instead of America.
The second member of this duo is former Toronto Raptor Raef LaFrentz.
Harden has scored at least 50 points in 23 games in his 12 seasons in the NBA, the most among current players. His best scoring season to date was the 2018-19 NBA season, in which he scored 36.1 points per game, the highest single-season scoring average since the 1986-87 season. He also led the Rockets to their first Western Conference title since 2001 by averaging 28.3 points, 6.0 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per game during that season.
Harden's longest active streak of scores in a game is 22, which he achieved three times this year. The last time someone did that was in 1983 when Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics had 22 points against him defense-wise (he finished with 51).
Harden has scored at least 50 points 11 times in his NBA career. His average score per game during those occasions was 54.9. Last season was his best yet, as he averaged 27.6 points, 6.0 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per game.
He will attempt to continue his record-breaking season when the Rockets play their final home game of the season on April 20 against the San Antonio Spurs. Houston will wear black uniforms during that game in honor of former All-Star center Hakeem Olajuwon who passed away earlier this month. Harden is expected to be one of six players selected to compete in the 2019 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Rockets All-Time Points Leaders: Regular Season Career Totals-Top 50 Player Points Seasons FTM 1. Hakeem Olajuwon (26,511-17,376 points) 2. James Harden (18,365 to 9,554 points) Calvin Murphy, 17,949 to 13,345, third. Rudy Tomjanovich is number four. 13,383 – 11,209
James is now ranked third all-time. Wilt Chamberlain holds the record for most points scored in a single NBA season with 4,029 in 1961-62. The following is a list of NBA players ranked by total career regular season points scored.
With 15,837 career field goals, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar owns the NBA record. Wilt Chamberlain, one of the greatest scorers of all time, ranks in the top four for most field goals made in a season and has the second best season field goal percentage (72.7 percent ).
In fact, five different players have made at least seven game-winning shots. Only one of those five is still in the NBA, and he has the potential to end his career with the most buzzer-beaters in league history.
That was the game in which Jamal Mashburn hit for 50 points and Jim Jackson hit for 38, the two collecting 88 of the 124 points in the Mavericks' four-point triumph. Since we have comprehensive box scores (1985-86), these are the top 200 scoring duos in a single NBA game: 50, 39, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50.
The list is very balanced between high scorers and low scorers, with 26 players reaching at least one 50-point mark in their careers. The highest-scoring game of all time was played by the Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers in 1958-59, when Sidney Wicks and Tom Gola combined for 70 points!
Looking at this list, it's not surprising to see many great teammates up on the same team during their careers. In fact, 10 of the 12 highest-scoring games came when two players were on the floor together. The only exceptions are the 1957-58 Chicago Stags vs. the Minneapolis Lakers game (47 points) and the 1985-86 Dallas Mavericks vs. the Houston Rockets game (50 points).
It's also interesting to see how many 50-point games there have been over the years. There have been at least five games with at least one player reach the mark this season alone!
Copyright © 2020 - 2023 Sportsmanist Inc.
