Most Assists in a Single NBA Game

The most assists in a single NBA game is 30, set by Scott Skiles of the Orlando Magic against the Denver Nuggets on December 30, 1990. The record has stood for more than three decades, with Kevin Porter’s 29 assists in 1978 the closest anyone has come to matching it.

The single-game assist record captures the ultimate playmaking night, when one point guard sets up his teammates on nearly every possession. It takes a fast pace, hot shooting from teammates and total control of the offense. Here is the full leaderboard of the most assists in a game, the passers who came closest, and why Skiles’s number has held up. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: Scott Skiles and 30 assists

On the second-to-last night of 1990, Magic point guard Scott Skiles carved up the Denver Nuggets for 30 assists in a 155-116 win. Skiles was never an All-Star and averaged well under double-digit assists for his career, which is what makes the record so remarkable. Everything aligned that night: a blistering pace, teammates who could not miss, and a point guard reading the floor perfectly. He broke Kevin Porter’s 12-year-old record by a single dime, and no one has reached 30 since.

The full leaderboard of single-game assists

The table below ranks the most assists recorded in a single NBA game.

Rank	Assists	Player	Team	Date
1	30	Scott Skiles	Orlando Magic	Dec 30, 1990
2	29	Kevin Porter	New Jersey Nets	Feb 24, 1978
3	28	Bob Cousy	Boston Celtics	Feb 27, 1959
3	28	Guy Rodgers	San Francisco Warriors	Mar 14, 1963
3	28	John Stockton	Utah Jazz	Jan 15, 1991
6	27	Ernie DiGregorio	Buffalo Braves	Jan 1, 1974
6	27	Geoff Huston	Cleveland Cavaliers	Jan 27, 1982
8	25	Isiah Thomas	Detroit Pistons	Feb 13, 1985
8	25	Nate McMillan	Seattle SuperSonics	Feb 23, 1987

The list is a roll call of pass-first point guards across eras, from Bob Cousy in the 1950s to John Stockton, the NBA’s all-time assists leader, who appears with a 28-assist night in 1991. Nate McMillan’s 25 assists came as a rookie, still one of the highest single-game totals ever.

The near-misses

Kevin Porter’s 29 assists in 1978 stood as the record until Skiles beat it by one. Since then, the game’s greatest playmakers have come close but not level. Stockton, who finished his career with more assists than anyone in history, peaked at 28. Modern floor generals rack up huge assist numbers over a season but rarely spike past the low 20s in a single game, in part because offenses now share ball-handling duties. The names near the top of this list also anchor our most assists in NBA history leaderboard.

Pace, scoring and the perfect night

A 30-assist game needs a shootout as much as a great passer. Skiles’s Magic scored 155 points, and huge assist totals almost always come in high-scoring wins, the same conditions behind our highest-scoring NBA games. It also reflects control: the best playmakers dictate tempo and put teammates in position to finish, a trait shared by many of the greatest NBA players ever to run an offense.

Why the record matters

The single-game assist record measures selfless brilliance, the most any player has ever set up his teammates in one night. That it belongs to Scott Skiles, rather than a Hall of Fame point guard, gives it an underdog charm, and its survival through the pass-happy modern era shows how extreme 30 really is. Great teams are built on comebacks and ball movement too, as our list of the biggest comebacks in NBA history shows.

The short version: Scott Skiles holds the single-game assist record with 30, set in 1990 and unbroken for over 30 years, ahead of Kevin Porter (29) and a group of Hall of Fame passers at 28, as of the 2025 season.