Most Points in an NBA Playoff Game

Michael Jordan holds the NBA record for the most points in a single playoff game, with 63 against the Boston Celtics on April 20, 1986. The game went to double overtime, and although his Chicago Bulls lost, the performance became one of the most famous individual displays in basketball history.

A single playoff game is the highest-pressure stage the sport offers, which is why huge scoring nights in the postseason carry outsized weight. Only two players have ever cracked 60, and the list below the leaders is stacked with legends. Here is the full leaderboard of the highest-scoring playoff performances, the games behind them, and why Jordan’s mark has stood for so long. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: Michael Jordan and 63 points

Jordan’s 63 came in just his second NBA season, in a first-round series against a Celtics team widely regarded as one of the greatest ever assembled. He scored from everywhere on the floor across two overtimes, and Boston needed every bit of its Hall of Fame roster to survive. Larry Bird’s line afterward, calling Jordan “God disguised as Michael Jordan,” has followed the game ever since.

The record is secured as much by the setting as the number. Doing it in the playoffs, against a title-bound opponent, is what separates 63 from Jordan’s other huge nights and from the many 50-point games that have followed.

The full leaderboard of playoff scoring games

The table below ranks the highest-scoring individual games in NBA playoff history. Active players are noted.

Rank	Points	Player	Team	Year
1	63	Michael Jordan	Bulls	1986 (2OT)
2	61	Elgin Baylor	Lakers	1962
3	57	Donovan Mitchell*	Jazz	2020
4	56	Wilt Chamberlain	Warriors	1962
5	56	Michael Jordan	Bulls	1992
6	56	Charles Barkley	Suns	1994
7	55	Rick Barry	Warriors	1967
8	55	Michael Jordan	Bulls	1993 (Finals)
9	55	Allen Iverson	76ers	2003
10	53	Jerry West	Lakers	1969

Jordan appears three times, more than any other player, and the top 10 spans from the 1960s to the modern game. Beyond this list, many other 50-point playoff games exist, but the very highest nights belong to this group.

Elgin Baylor and the 61-point Finals night

Elgin Baylor’s 61 points came in Game 5 of the 1962 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, still the most points ever scored in a Finals game. Baylor was one of the sport’s first great above-the-rim scorers, and his mark held as the overall playoff record until Jordan surpassed it in 1986. It remains second on the all-time list and first for the championship round.

The 56-point club and the modern chase

Wilt Chamberlain, Jordan and Charles Barkley all posted 56-point playoff games, and Donovan Mitchell’s 57 in the 2020 bubble sits just above them as the best by an active player. Mitchell’s night against Denver showed that huge postseason scoring is still possible in the modern game, even if 60 has proven a stubborn ceiling. For the regular-season equivalents, see our leaderboards for the most points in an NBA game and the most points in NBA history.

Why the record matters

Playoff scoring records reward doing the hardest thing in basketball, filling it up against elite defenses with a season on the line. Jordan’s 63 combined volume, efficiency and stakes in a way no one has matched in 40 years, which is why it anchors so many all-time debates. For the broader picture of postseason greatness, see our rankings of the greatest NBA players and the most NBA championships by a player.

The short version: Michael Jordan holds the NBA playoff single-game scoring record with 63 points from 1986, ahead of Elgin Baylor (61). Donovan Mitchell’s 57 leads active players. As of the 2025 season, only Jordan and Baylor have ever scored 60 in a playoff game.