NBA Players With The Highest Scoring Games In Playoffs History

Being an all-time great scorer in the NBA means a wide variety of things. Most great scorers dominated all competition, and defensive schemes laid before them and rose above the rest with their talent and hard work. The great scorers of this game have been able to put the ball in the basket any way they have wanted to, and when you see today’s list, you will know why I say that. Today’s list is just a bit more special as these are the greatest scorers in NBA history during the NBA playoffs.

We will break each player’s scoring down in certain increments. We will showcase the Top 3 scorers in increments of 5 from the most 30-point games up and through the most 55-point games. You will see many names that repeat atop the lists, and some will surprise you with where they are placed. All of the game’s greatest scorers will be represented, including the entire Top 5 players on the all-time career points scored list.

Get ready to show some appreciation for the greatest NBA playoff performers of all time as we show you the greatest scorers in NBA playoff history.

The Most 30+ Point Games

1. LeBron James – 118 30-Point Games

2. Michael Jordan – 109 30-Point Games

3. Kobe Bryant – 88 30-Point Games

Arguably the 3 greatest playoff performers to ever grace a basketball court kick off our list with the most 30-point games in NBA playoff history. LeBron James takes the title for the most 30-point games in the NBA playoffs with 118. His averages from all over the floor are impressive in these games. In 188 30-point games, James averaged 35.9 PPG and scored over 4,230 points. With a total of 266 career playoff games, that means LeBron is likely to go for 30 or more points 44.4% of the time he steps on the court in the NBA playoffs.

The man that LeBron passed a few seasons ago, Michael Jordan, comes in 2nd with 109 30-point games. This should come as no surprise, given what the rest of this list entails and the fact that he is the NBA’s career PPG leader in the playoffs. Coming in 21 games behind Jordan is the late Kobe Bryant. Kobe was a playoff legend and one of the most gifted scorers in modern basketball history. From 2000 through 2012, Bryant registered at least one 35-point playoff game every year.

The Most 35+ Point Games

1. Michael Jordan – 75 35-Point Games

2. LeBron James – 61 35-Point Games

3. Jerry West – 48 35-Point Games

Michael Jordan comes in as the No. 1 player in NBA playoff history with 75 35-point performances in his career. Once again, Jordan is the all-time playoff leader in PPG with a 30.1 average. Jordan sported an incredible average when he went off for more than 35 points, as he scored 41.8 PPG in such playoff contests. In 45 Conference Finals games, Jordan averaged 31.0 PPG, and in Finals games, he averaged 33.6 PPG for his career. There is no doubt that the greatest playoff scorer to ever step foot in the NBA is Michael Jordan.

The runner-up to Michael Jordan’s 35-point playoff games is LeBron James, with 61. James has played 226 career games in the playoffs, by far the most in NBA history. In his 35-point performances, James has averaged 39.9 PPG in those 61 games and averages 28.7 PPG for his playoff career. The person coming in right behind James is Laker legend and NBA logo Jerry West. His performances in the playoffs, and especially the 9 NBA Finals appearances he had made, are the stuff of legend. For his career, West averaged 29.1 PPG in the playoffs, including 30.5 PPG in the NBA Finals.

The Most 40+ Point Games

1. Michael Jordan – 38 40-Point Games

2. LeBron James – 28 40-Point Games

3. Jerry West – 20 40-Point Games

Just as the standings were for 35-point games, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Jerry West round out the list for 40-point playoff games. Jordan is the all-time leader with 38 such games in his 15-year career. In 38 games with 40 points or more, Jordan averaged an incredible 46.6 PPG and shot 54.8% from the field. He also happened to be a 38.7% 3-point shooter in these games, addressing a crazy narrative about him not being able to shoot. His most 40-point games in one playoff run came in the 1990 season when he recorded 6 such games.

Once again, Jerry West and LeBron James finish just shy of Michael Jordan’s mark. In 28 40-point playoff games, he averaged 43.7 PPG, and West averaged the same in his 20 40-point playoff performances. James shot far better than West at 56.8% from the floor, but West shot well with 50.8%. James had the most 40-point games in one playoff run during the 2018 playoffs when he had 8 such games. For West, it was in 1965 when he recorded 8 such games as well, with 6 of them coming consecutively.

The Most 45+ Point Games

1. Michael Jordan – 23 45-Point Games

2. LeBron James – 11 45-Point Games

3. Wilt Chamberlain – 8 45-Point Games

Michael Jordan still reigns supreme for 45-point playoff games and with more than double that of the next most such games by LeBron James. Jordan has recorded 23 45-point games in his 15-year NBA career and really in just 13 seasons with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan averaged a whopping 49.4 PPG in his 23 games of 45 points or more and shot 56.0% from the field. That is absolutely incredible volume on unprecedented efficiency in the playoffs, especially for a shooting guard. Jordan had his first 45-point playoff game in Game 1 of the 1986 First Round against the Boston Celtics with 49 points. He followed that up with a 63-point output in Game 2 and famously afterward was described by Larry Bird as “God disguised as Michael Jordan.”

Once again, following Michael Jordan in the 45-point games category is LeBron James. LeBron has had just 11 45-point games in the playoffs and averages 46.9 PPG on 60.9% shooting in those 11 games. His first 45-point playoff game came in his very first career playoff series against the Washington Wizards. He scored 45 points in a 121-120 Game 5 win. Wilt Chamberlain, another historical scoring machine in the NBA, has recorded 8 playoff games of over 45 points. In just his 3rd career playoff game, Chamberlain dropped 53 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in a 20-point Game 3 win over the Syracuse Nationals.

The Most 50+ Point Games

1. Michael Jordan – 8 50-Point Games

2. Wilt Chamberlain – 4 50-Point Games

3. Allen Iverson – 3 50-Point Games

Michael Jordan also sits atop the list in NBA playoff history for the most 50-point playoff games. This time, LeBron James has been removed from the Top 3 as far as 50-point games are concerned. Jordan’s 50-point playoff games came with an average of 54.8 PPG on 56.9% shooting from the field. Could you imagine scoring 50 points 8 times that efficiently? Someone like that has to be considered the greatest player of all-time, right? I would think so, considering that the same player who did that went to the NBA Finals six times and won every single time.

The other 2 players to wrap up this list are Wilt Chamberlain and Allen Iverson. Chamberlain recorded his 50-point playoff games twice in 1960, once in 1962, and once in 1964. Chamberlain’s career playoff average for points scored is 22.5 PPG, with 2 championships to lay claim to. Allen Iverson had 3 career 50-point playoff games also. In 2001, Iverson led the Philadelphia 76ers on an improbable NBA Finals run that saw him have 2 of his 3 career 50-point playoff games. His playoff career-high came in Game 1 of the first round of the 2003 playoffs against the New Orleans Hornets when he scored 55 points on 65.6% shooting.

The Most 55+ Point Games

1. Michael Jordan – 5 55-Point Games

2. Others Tied With 1 Game Apiece

When it comes to 55-point games in the NBA playoffs, there is again only one man on top of the mountain, and his name is Michael Jordan. As a matter of fact, no other player in the history of the league has ever recorded more than one 55-point playoff game in the NBA playoffs. His 63 points in 1986 against Boston remains an NBA record. Along with his career PPG record for the regular season and playoffs, you can add most 55-point games to his already incredible resume.

Only 7 other players in NBA history have ever recorded a 55-point game in the NBA playoffs. Those players include Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain. Elgin Baylor has the 2nd-highest amount of points in a single playoff game with 61. Damian Lillard is the last player to do it with 55 points in 2021. Before him, it was Donovan Mitchell in 2020 with 57 points. Wilt Chamberlain was the first player to ever score 55 points in a playoff game until Baylor scored 61 just 3 weeks later.

Michael Jordan Is The King Of Playoff Scoring

When it comes to overall scoring, Michael Jordan is a God amongst men as far as his career in the NBA. Among all of the scoring records, Jordan was still able to put in an all-out defensive effort every single night. Load management didn’t exist in these days, so when I say every night, I mean every night. When we travel into the future and want to show the next few generations the gold standard of scoring, we will still be showing them Michael Jordan footage.

Yes, there are others like LeBron James who will hold the records for total points in both the regular season and playoffs by the time the 2022-23 season has concluded. However, no one at their peak was better at scoring in an efficient manner than MJ. The one argument you always hear about Jordan and his scoring is that he didn’t have a 3-point shot in his arsenal. That wasn’t his game. He could dominate an opponent enough as it was in the mid-range and taking his man off the dribble to the basket. If you learn one thing from the work we have laid out before you, let it be that when it came to scoring and overall play, nobody did either better than Michael Jordan.

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