What is the greatest single-game scoring performance in NBA history?

One night, one absurd box score. Sixty years separate the oldest of these from the newest, and nobody agrees on which was actually the hardest to do.

1

Kobe Bryant – 81 points (2006)

Kobe outscored Toronto by himself after halftime on 22 January 2006, the second-highest total ever at the time.

2

Wilt Chamberlain – 100 points (1962)

Wilt's 2 March 1962 night in Hershey against the Knicks, the record no one has approached since.

3

Bam Adebayo – 83 points (2026)

Miami's centre hit 36 free throws against Washington on 10 March 2026 to pass Kobe for second all-time.

4

Wilt Chamberlain – 78 points (1961)

A triple-overtime duel with Elgin Baylor's Lakers on 8 December 1961 that briefly stood as the record.

5

David Thompson – 73 points (1978)

Denver's guard poured in 32 in the first quarter of the 1978 season finale chasing the scoring title.

6

Luka Dončić – 73 points (2024)

Dallas beat Atlanta on 26 January 2024 behind the highest total of the three-point era at the time.

7

Elgin Baylor – 71 points (1960)

Baylor's 15 November 1960 night at Madison Square Garden set the record before Wilt rewrote it.

8

David Robinson – 71 points (1994)

The Admiral took the 1994 scoring title from Shaq on the last day of the season against the Clippers.

9

Donovan Mitchell – 71 points (2023)

Cleveland's guard forced overtime against Chicago on 2 January 2023 after a nine-point comeback.

10

Damian Lillard – 71 points (2023)

Lillard needed only three quarters of work to bury Houston on 26 February 2023.

11

Joel Embiid – 70 points (2024)

Philadelphia's MVP centre set a franchise record against San Antonio on 22 January 2024.

12

Devin Booker – 70 points (2017)

A 22-year-old Booker dropped 70 in Boston on 24 March 2017 in a game Phoenix still lost.

13

Michael Jordan – 69 points (1990)

Jordan's career high came in overtime at Cleveland on 28 March 1990, with 18 rebounds attached.

14

Michael Jordan – 63 points (1986)

The double-overtime playoff record against the 1986 Celtics, the night Larry Bird invoked God.

15

Elgin Baylor – 61 points (1962)

Game 5 of the 1962 Finals in Boston, still the highest-scoring Finals game by any player.

16

Stephen Curry – 62 points (2021)

Curry's career high against Portland on 3 January 2021, built on eight threes and free throws.

17

Klay Thompson – 60 points (2016)

Sixty points in 29 minutes against Indiana on 5 December 2016, on only eleven dribbles.