Every single-game NBA scoring record

The 71-point explosion from Donovan Mitchell has everyone looking back at the single-game NBA scoring record. Here are the games we can’t forget.

Donovan Mitchell went off to start the 2023 calendar year, pouring in 71 points in an overtime win over the Chicago Bulls. His outburst seemed to come out of nowhere — he scored 13 in the overtime — which sent people scrambling to find his place in history.

What is the regular-season single-game NBA scoring record?

This record still belongs to Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points on Mar. 6, 1962. He also scored 78 points earlier that season which stood as the two highest-scoring games in NBA history until Kobe Bryant scored 81 against the Toronto Raptors in 2006.

Kobe’s 81 points are the scoring record for the 3-point and post-merger eras.

What is the postseason single-game NBA scoring record?

The NBA scoring record for a playoff game belongs to Michael Jordan, who dropped 63 points on the Celtics in the first round of the 1986 playoffs. That broke the mark of 61 from Elgin Baylor which had stood for more than two decades. And in third on the postseason single-game scoring list — Donovan Mitchell, who scored 57 points in an overtime win over the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 playoffs.

Which NBA players have scored 70 points in an NBA game?

This exclusive list has just seven names on it — Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor, David Robinson, Devin Booker and now Donovan Mitchell. Of course, Wilt did it six times, as many as all the other players combined.

Some of the NBA’s greatest scorers finished with career highs that never broke 70 — Michael Jordan (69), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (55), LeBron James (61), Karl Malone (61). Dirk Nowitzki (53).

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