Who Scored the Most Points In An NBA Game – Donovan Mitchell Joins Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain At The Top Of The List

Arun Sharma | 03/01/2023
Who Scored the Most Points In An NBA Game - Donovan Mitchell Joins Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain At The Top Of The List

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a new franchise record thanks to Donovan Mitchell. Don became the seventh person in history to score 70 points or more after scoring 71 points in overtime against the Chicago Bulls.

The list has some legendary names and Devin Booker, to which Donovan has added his name. The most number of points to ever be scored in one game is still Wilt Chamberlain’s record when he scored 100 points against the New York Knicks.

Wilt Chamberlain has a slew of records that may very well never be broken, but this one singular game may never be touched. In an era where iso ball doesn’t work anymore, scoring anything above 50 is a gargantuan task. Scoring a double of something nearly impossible is nothing short of a miracle.

The only person who came close to touching that record was Kobe Bryant in the 2005-06 season when he played the Toronto Raptors. In the only game Jalen Rose is remembered for,  The Black Mamba scored 81 points – a record that still stands as the most points in the modern NBA.

 

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Donovan Mitchell scores 71 points – he eclipses Devin Booker by 1 point

Up until tonight, Devin Booker was the last person in six years to score 70 points in a game. His humongous effort came in a loss, but Spida was the head-turner in a comeback win against the Bulls.

Surprisingly, given the number of free throws he took during his time in Houston, James Harden does not appear on this list. Or Stephen Curry, with his penchant for three-pointers.

It goes to show how difficult it is to hit 70 points; only seven individuals have ever managed that. Mitchell is one of them, although his 71-point game is the 8th-highest of all time.

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Who are the 6 other individuals to score 70 Points or more?

Here is the list of everyone who scored 70 points in a game, in descending order:

  1. Wilt Chamberlain: 100 points, March 2, 1962, against the New York Knicks for the Philadelphia Warriors
  2. Kobe Bryant: 81 points, January 22, 2006, against the Toronto Raptors for the Los Angeles Lakers
  3. Wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson (tied): 73 points Wilt twice (January 13, 1962, and November 16, 1962) and David once (April 9, 1978).
  4. Wilt Chamberlain: 72 points (November 3, 1962) against the Los Angeles Lakers for the San Francisco Warriors
  5. Elgin Baylor, David Robinson, and Donovan Mitchell (tied): 71 points Elgin (November 15, 1960) David (April 24, 1994) and Mitchell (January 2, 2023)
  6. Devin Booker, Wilt Chamberlain (tied): 70 points Devin (March 24, 2017) Wilt (March 10, 1963)

Two big names omitted from this list are LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Jordan came tantalizingly close in 1990 when he scored 69 points against the Cavaliers. In 2014, LeBron scored 61 points against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Also Read: Luka Doncic Joins Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant in Highly Exclusive NBA Club

Post Edited By: Samir Mehdi
70 point games Donvoan Mitchell Kobe Bryant Wilt Chamberlain

About the author

Arun Sharma

Arun Sharma is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. A double degree holder and a digital marketer by trade, Arun has always been a sports buff. He fell in love with the sport of basketball at a young age and has been a Lakers fan since 2006. What started as a Kobe Bryant obsession slowly turned into a lifelong connection with the purple and gold. Arun has been an ardent subscriber to the Mamba mentality and has shed tears for a celebrity death only once in his life. He believes January 26, 2020, was the turning point in the passage of time because Kobe was the glue holding things together. From just a Lakers bandwagoner to a basketball fanatic, Arun has spent 16 long years growing up along with the league. He thinks Stephen Curry has ruined basketball forever, and the mid-range game is a sight to behold. Sharma also has many opinions about football (not the American kind), F1, MotoGP, tennis, and cricket.

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