Most Points in an NBA Game: Wilt's 100

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single NBA game on March 2, 1962, playing for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks. It is the most any player has ever scored in one game, and it is the only 100-point game in league history. More than six decades on, no one has come within 19 points of it.

The modern record belongs to Kobe Bryant, whose 81 in 2006 is the second-highest total ever and the only entry near the top that was not scored in Chamberlain’s era. Below those two, the record book runs into a cluster of 70-point games, most of them from the 1960s until a sudden run of them in the 2020s. Here is the full table and the story of why the summit has stood so long.

Highest single-game point totals in NBA history

The table lists the highest-scoring individual games ever, with the date and opponent. Chamberlain appears more than once, which is part of why his 100 sits so far clear.

Points	Player	Date	Opponent
100	Wilt Chamberlain	Mar 2, 1962	New York Knicks
81	Kobe Bryant	Jan 22, 2006	Toronto Raptors
78	Wilt Chamberlain	Dec 8, 1961	Los Angeles Lakers (3 OT)
73	Wilt Chamberlain	Jan 13, 1962	Chicago Packers
73	David Thompson	Apr 9, 1978	Detroit Pistons
73	Luka Doncic	Jan 26, 2024	Atlanta Hawks
72	Wilt Chamberlain	Nov 3, 1962	Los Angeles Lakers
71	Elgin Baylor	Nov 15, 1960	New York Knicks
71	David Robinson	Apr 24, 1994	LA Clippers
71	Donovan Mitchell	Jan 2, 2023	Chicago Bulls
71	Damian Lillard	Feb 26, 2023	Houston Rockets
70	Devin Booker	Mar 24, 2017	Boston Celtics
70	Joel Embiid	Jan 22, 2024	San Antonio Spurs

Chamberlain owns four of the top seven single-game totals, including three of the four 78-to-72 slots. That is the real measure of his 1961-62 season: the 100 was the peak, but he was routinely closer to 80 than any modern player has managed even once.

The 100-point game: the record that won’t move

The details around Chamberlain’s 100 are almost as famous as the number. It happened in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in front of a small crowd, with no television cameras, so no film of it exists. What survives is the box score, the play-by-play and the photograph of Chamberlain holding a paper sign reading “100.”

The context matters without diminishing it. The early 1960s were played at a breakneck pace, with far more possessions per game than today, and the Knicks were missing their regular center. But Chamberlain still had to make the shots and the free throws, sinking 28 of 32 from the line, a rare night of accuracy for a famously poor free-throw shooter.

Kobe’s 81 and the modern ceiling

Kobe Bryant’s 81 against Toronto in 2006 is the closest anyone has come, and it is the total most fans reach for when they picture a huge scoring night. Bryant scored 55 in the second half to drag the Lakers back from an 18-point deficit, which is why his game is remembered as a rescue act rather than a stat-padding exercise.

The 25-point gap between his 81 and Chamberlain’s 100 is a fair marker of how much the game changed. Fewer possessions, smarter help defense and the modern habit of resting stars in decided games all pull against another 100. Bryant’s night is what the ceiling now looks like.

The 70-point club, empty then crowded

For most of NBA history, 70 points in a game was near-mythical. Between David Thompson’s 73 in 1978 and David Robinson’s 71 in 1994, no one reached it at all, and after Robinson the club went untouched for 23 years.

Then it opened up. Devin Booker scored 70 in 2017, and the 2023 and 2024 seasons alone added Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, Luka Doncic and Joel Embiid. A more open, three-heavy style and elite shot-making produced more 70-point games in a few years than the previous four decades combined. The 100 still looks untouchable, but the tier just below it is busier than it has ever been.

Where this record sits among the others

Single-game scoring is only one way to measure a great scorer, and it is worth keeping it separate from the season and career marks. For the record over a full campaign, our page on the most points in an NBA season covers Chamberlain’s 4,029 in that same 1961-62 year, and our ranking of the most points in NBA history tracks the all-time totals now led by LeBron James.

The short version: Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points on March 2, 1962 is the most in any NBA game, Kobe Bryant’s 81 leads the modern era, and the 70-point club, quiet for decades, has filled up fast in the 2020s.