Most points scored by a player in an NBA game

Wilt Chamberlain:
100 points (Warriors vs. Knicks, March 2, 1962)
Kobe Bryant:
81 points (Lakers vs. Raptors, Jan. 22, 2006)
Wilt Chamberlain:
78 points (Warriors vs. Lakers, Dec. 8, 1961 in 3OT)
Entering the 2024-25 season, there have been 15 70-plus point games in NBA history by 10 different players. Chamberlain is the only player with multiple 70+ point games with five. 73 point
Luka Doncic
: Mavericks at Hawks, Jan. 26, 2024
David Thompson
: Nuggets at Pistons, April 9, 1978
Wilt Chamberlain:
Warriors at Knicks, Nov. 16, 1962
Wilt Chamberlain:
Warriors vs. Packers, Jan. 13, 1962
72 points
Wilt Chamberlain:
Warriors at Lakers, Nov. 3, 1962
71 points
Damian Lillard
: Trail Blazers vs. Rockets, Feb. 26, 2023
Donovan Mitchell
: Cavaliers vs. Bulls, Jan. 2, 2023 (OT)
David Robinson
: Spurs at Clippers, Apr. 24, 1994
Elgin Baylor
: Lakers vs. Knicks, Nov. 15, 1960
70 points
Joel Embiid
: 76ers vs. Spurs, Jan. 22, 2024
Devin Booker
: Suns at Celtics, March 24, 2017
Wilt Chamberlain
: Warriors at Nationals, March 10, 1963
In the NBA Playoffs, only two players have eclipsed 60 points in a single game — Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan — and both did so against the same foe. Baylor set the single-game record in 1962 with a 61-point performance for the Lakers in a win over the Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. That record stood for 24 years until Jordan scored 63 points in a double-overtime loss to the Celtics in Game 2 of the 1986 first round — a feat that Larry Bird described as: “God disguised as Michael Jordan.”
Michael Jordan:
63 points (Bulls at Celtics, Game 2 of first round, April 20, 1986 in 2OT)
Elgin Baylor:
61 points (Lakers at Celtics, Game 5 of NBA Finals, April 14, 1962)