Throughout different eras of the NBA, there have been some phenomenal point scorers who have racked up a lot of points, both in individual games and over the course of their careers.
There have been 15 occasions in which players have scored more than 70 points in a single game.
Here, we have looked into each of those performances.
1. Wilt Chamberlain
By far the highest individual score in NBA history, Chamberlain dropped 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks in March 1962.
The Warriors won 169-142, with Chamberlain making 36 field goals and 28 free throws within his 100-point performance.
The box score is disputed by some, as there is camera footage from sporting events around that time and prior to it, so it’s felt to be strange that the game wasn’t recorded in some capacity.
In any case, the record books say that Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to score 100 points in a game.
2. Kobe Bryant
Kobe’s career-high 81 points came in a 122-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors in 2006.
The LA Lakers guard was only on 26 points by half time, but exploded in the second half, with 27 points in the third quarter and 28 in the fourth. There were only three Lakers points scored in the fourth quarter that weren’t by Kobe.
He made 28 field goals and 18 free throws during the game, and outscored his team-mates by 81-41, as they clearly knew to let him keep the ball late in the game as something incredible was happening.
3. Wilt Chamberlain
Chamberlain’s first time passing the 70-point barrier almost became his best scoring game of his career.
It was early on in his career, and Chamberlain showed a propensity for big scoring, as he dropped 78 points in a losing cause, as the Philadelphia Warriors lost 151-147 to the LA Lakers.
Chamberlain rebounded a huge 43 times to keep the ball for his side, and also made 31 field goals, along with 16 free throws, while he missed 15 of them.
But on the other side, Elgin Baylor dropped 63 points to inspire the Lakers to victory.
=4. Wilt Chamberlain
Another 1962 occasion in which Chamberlain broke 70 points, this time he scored 73 in January.
He was playing for the Philadelphia Warriors against the Chicago Packers, contributing heavily towards a 135-117 victory.
He returned a ridiculous 36 rebounds as the Warriors kept possession often, while he made 29 field goals and 15 free throws.
=4. Wilt Chamberlain
Fast forward 10 months, and Chamberlain matched his January total of 73 points, this time against the New York Knicks.
The relocation from Philadelphia to San Francisco for Chamberlain was clearly not a problem – he’d last scored 73 in the team’s former location – as he scored more than half of the points in a 127-111 victory.
Chamberlain made 29 field goals and 15 free throws in his 73-point game.
=4. David Thompson
There had not been a 70-point game since 1963 until Thompson scored 73 points in April 1978 for the Denver Nuggets.
He did so in a close 139-137 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Thompson made 28 field goals and 17 free throws, but could not get his side over the line.
=4. Luka Doncic
Doncic is the most recent player to break the 70-point mark, doing so on January 26, 2024, just four days after Embiid had done so for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Doncic’s career-high saw him post 73 points in a 148-143 Dallas Mavericks victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
The guard made 25 field goals, 15 of 16 free throws, and also rebounded the ball 10 times, and was three assists short of a huge triple double.
Doncic scored consistently throughout the game, with quarter scores of: 18, 23, 16 and 16.
8. Wilt Chamberlain
Chamberlain surpassed 70 points four times in 1962, one of those games coming on November 3.
The San Francisco Warriors lost the game 127-115 to the LA Lakers, with opposing player Jerry West scoring 49 points.
Chamberlain, though, had significantly outscored his team-mates, 72-43.
=9. Elgin Baylor
Baylor’s 71-point game for the LA Lakers against the New York Knicks in 1960 was the first time that anybody had scored as many points in NBA history.
Baylor scored more than half of his side’s 123 points, making 28 field goals from 48 attempts.
No other Lakers player managed more than 15 points, as Baylor carried them to a 123-108 win.
=9. David Robinson
Robinson made a huge contribution to the San Antonio Spurs’ 112-97 win over the LA Clippers in 1994, with 71 points.
He was not far from outscoring the opposition by himself, and led his team by far, with no other Spurs player scoring double figures. Robinson made 26 field goals and 18 free throws.
=9. Donovan Mitchell
Two current players both scored 71 points within a couple of months of each other in 2023. The first was Mitchell, achieving the feat in a 145-134 Cleveland Cavaliers victory over Chicago Bulls on January 2.
His 71-point game included 22 field goals, seven of which were three pointers, and 20 free throws. Incredibly, Mitchell also shared the ball often, as he registered 11 assists in the game, and came within two rebounds of a 71-point triple double.
In the second half of the game alone, Mitchell scored 42 points.
=9. Damian Lillard
A couple of months after Mitchell’s 71-point game, on February 26, 2023, Lillard matched his total.
He scored more than half of the Portland Trail Blazers’ points in their 131-114 victory.
Lillard made 13 three pointers within his 28 field goals, as well as adding 14 free throws, not missing a single one. By half time, he was already on 41 points and he added another 30 in the second half to finish with 71.
=13. Wilt Chamberlain
Chamberlain has six of the top 15 highest-scoring games in NBA history. For the San Francisco Warriors in March 1963, he dropped 70 points against the Syracuse Nationals.
Chamberlain played 48 minutes, made 27 field goals, 16 free throws, and his 70 points were compared to a combined 78 from his team-mates.
=13. Devin Booker
In a breakout game for Phoenix Suns guard Booker in 2017, the 20-year-old went berserk, scoring 70 points out of a total 120 for his side against the Boston Celtics.
Clearly on a hot streak, it was hard to get the ball out of Booker’s hands. He attempted 40 field goals, scoring 21, while also scoring 24 out of 26 free throws.
In the fourth quarter alone, Booker scored 28 points, with his team-mates adding 12.
=13. Joel Embiid
Philadelphia 76ers center Embiid recorded a career-high 70 points in a 133-123 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in 2024.
He outscored each of the other members of his team combined, and the next highest 76ers total was Tyrese Maxey’s 18.
Embiid made 24 field goals and 21 free throws, retaining the ball well on both ends of the court with 18 rebounds, helping his side to stay in possession so that he could continue to score.
