It was 20 years ago that we saw as many points as Bam Adebayo scored against the Washington Wizards on March 10th, 2026. The Miami Heat center scored a stunning 83 points in a single NBA game, more than doubling his previous single-game record of 41 points. However, it wasn't a record.
As the NBA grew older and professionalised year by year, scoring records became harder to break. Players play fewer minutes nowadays than they did in the 1960s, defense has improved drastically, and teams revolve around one player less often.
Still, the average scoring prowess of modern-day players has set new heights. 50-point and 60-point games have become far more frequent - of the 92 60-point games recorded since 1946, 41 have come in the last 20 years. 32 of them even came in the last decade!
So, who are the players with the most points in a single NBA game in history? And who owns the record for most points scored in a single game? Flashscore finds it out.
Players with the most single-game points in NBA history
As mentioned before, Bam Adebayo's 83 points against the Washington Wizards didn't break the all-time record.
That record belongs to former great Wilt Chamberlain, whose legendary 100-point performance for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks on March 2nd, 1962, still reigns supreme by an enormous margin. Chamberlain scored 100 on 36/63 field goals, while also going 28/32 from the free-throw line.
Oh, and he recorded 25 total rebounds. The great Wilt Chamberlain put up a truly impossible game in front of the 4,124 spectators at the Hershey Sports Arena.
Bam Adebayo's 83 points land second on the list, knocking the late Kobe Bryant's legendary 81 points against the Toronto Raptors from January 22nd, 2006, down to third. Adebayo scored 83 points on 20/43 FG and 36/43 FT, while Kobe Bryant scored 81 on 28/46 shooting and 18/20 FT.
LeBron James and Michael Jordan, widely considered as the greatest NBA players of all time, have noted career-highs of 61 and 69.
So, without further ado, here is Flashscore's complete list of single-game scoring records from the NBA since 1946.
Complete list of NBA single-game scoring records
Active players are denoted in bold writing.
1. Wilt Chamberlain - 100 (Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, 02-03-1962)
2. Bam Adebayo - 83 (Miami Heat vs. Washington Wizards, 10-03-2026)
3. Kobe Bryant - 81 (Los Angeles Lakers vs. Toronto Raptors, 22-01-2006)
4. Wilt Chamberlain - 78 (Philadelphia Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 08-12-1961)
T-5: Luka Dončić - 73 (Dallas Mavericks vs. Atlanta Hawks, 26-01-2024)
T-5: David Thompson - 73 (Denver Nuggets vs. Detroit Pistons, 09-04-1978)
T-5: Wilt Chamberlain - 73 (San Francisco Warriors vs. New York Knicks, 16-11-1962)
T-5: Wilt Chamberlain - 73 (Philadelphia Warriors vs. Chicago Packers, 13-01-1962)
9: Wilt Chamberlain - 72 (San Francisco Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 03-11-1962)
T-10: Damian Lillard - 71 (Portland Trail Blazers vs. Houston Rockets, 26-02-2023)
T-10: Donovan Mitchell - 71 (Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Chicago Bulls, 02-01-2023)
T-10: David Robinson - 71 (San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Clippers, 24-04-1994)
T-10: Elgin Baylor - 71 (Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks, 15-11-1960)
T-14: Joel Embiid - 70 (Philadelphia 76ers vs. San Antonio Spurs, 22-01-2024)
T-14: Devin Booker - 70 (Phoenix Suns vs. Bolton Celtics, 24-03-2017)
T-14: Wilt Chamberlain - 70 (San Francisco Warriors vs. Syracuse Nationals, 10-03-1963)
17: Michael Jordan - 69 (Chicago Bulls vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 28-03-1990)
T-18: Pete Maravich - 68 (New Orleans Jazz vs. New York Knicks, 25-02-1977)
T-18: Wilt Chamberlain - 68 (Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls, 16-12-1967)
T-20: Wilt Chamberlain - 67 (San Francisco Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 11-01-1963)
T-20: Wilt Chamberlain - 67 (Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, 25-02-1962)
T-20: Wilt Chamberlain - 67 (Philadelphia Warriors vs. St. Louis Hawks, 17-02-1962)
T-20: Wilt Chamberlain - 67 (Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, 09-03-1961)
24: Wilt Chamberlain - 66 (Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns, 09-02-1969)
T-25: Kobe Bryant - 65 (Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 16-03-2007)
T-25: Wilt Chamberlain - 65 (Philadelphia 76ers vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 07-02-1966)
T-25: Wilt Chamberlain - 65 (Philadelphia Warriors vs. St. Louis Hawks, 27-02-1962)
T-25: Wilt Chamberlain - 65 (Philadelphia Warriors vs. Cincinnati Royals, 13-02-1962)
Wilt Chamberlain dominates the list with 15 entries in the top 25. In total, the late great Wilt had 32 60-point games in his 14-year NBA career, eventually ending his career with an average of 30.1 points per game.
A total of 17 active players have broken the 60-point barrier. Bam Adebayo leads the way with his 83 points, which included an NBA record 36 made free throws. Adebayo broke the previous record by 8 points, formerly held by Utah Jazz great Adrian Dantley.
Luka Dončić (73), Damian Lillard (71), Donovan Mitchell (71), Joel Embiid (70), and Devin Booker (70) compete the modern top 5. Especially Luka Dončić's 73-point performance against the Atlanta Hawks stands out - the Slovenian star went 25/33 from the field and scored 15/16 FTA, pairing those stats with his 10 rebounds and 7 assists in the Dallas Mavericks' 148-143 win on January 26th, 2024.
Career-highs for other current greats include Kevin Durant's 55-point performance against the Atlanta Hakws on April 2nd, 2022, Giannis Antetokounmpo's 64 points against the Indiana Pacers on December 13th, 2023, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 55-point game against the Indiana Pacers on October 23rd, 2025, Steph Curry scoring 62 against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 3rd, 2021, and James Harden, who has 25 games with 50 points, putting up 61 points against the San Antonio Spurs on March 22nd, 2019, and the New York Knicks on January 23rd, 2019.