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Also read: The best NBA Finals series of All-time
Why do we all love the NBA? Is it for the exhilarating end to end basketball action? Is it because of the fervor with which teams complete day in and day out to chase that elusive championship? Or is it because of the individual stories of greatness, the ones which cause us all to palpitate, whenever recalled of?
The NBA is a multitude of varying facets. It is about eminence and glory. It is about giving that extra effort to pull off the unthinkable.
Basketball may be a team game, but in the end, it is collective individual brilliance which runs the show. And what better stage to turn up big than the grandest stage of the NBA Finals?
So today, we look at such games of individual brilliance which made their way to the pages of history books. We take a look at individuals who saved the best for the last; the ones who hit the mark when the situation demanded them to. We look at the five individual highest scoring games in the history of the NBA Finals.
Honourable Mention
Bob Pettit (St. Louis Hawks) v Boston Celtics, April 12, 1958: 50 points
Only six players have ever managed to score 50 points or more in the history of the NBA Finals and we thought it would be rather unfair to omit the first person who achieved this feat. Pettit, then playing for the St. Louis Hawks, reached this milestone in Game 6 of the 1958 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.
Despite reeling from inconsistency during the entire season, the Hawks made their way to the finals where they would meet the Celtics, the same team that reduced them to despair in the previous year's NBA Finals.
A mid-series injury to Bill Russell gave the Hawks the much-needed edge as they hustled their way to a 3-2 series lead with the sixth game set to be played at home. It was here when Pettit's efforts helped the Hawks eke out a 110-109 win to seal the only NBA title in the history of the franchise.
Pettit scored 31 of his 50 points in the second half of the game. This included a whopping 18 points out of the final 21 made by the entire team. Pettit also made the final bucket of the Hawks - a tap-in - to thrust his side to a 3-point lead with the game clock winding down and it turned out to be the final nail in the coffin for the Celtics.
Since then, five individuals have managed to cross the 50-point threshold with the first person on this list being the most recent one to do so...
#5 LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) v Golden State Warriors, May 31, 2018: 51 points
An omnipresent name in the greatest of all time debate, LeBron James almost single-handedly carried the Cleveland Cavaliers in this game - just like the rest of the 2018 postseason - against the reigning champs and the favourites to blow the Cavs away in the 2018 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors were missing elite defender Andre Iguodala due to injury and LeBron decided to make the most of it. He started the game strongly, making his first 6 buckets to help the Cavs stay in strong contention of Game 1 which was being played at the Oracle Arena.
A strong first-half performance saw LeBron James finish with 24 points in the first 24 minutes of the game. He only went on to better his mark in the last two quarters, dropping another 25 points.
Amidst the iconic fast-paced play of the Warriors and a JaVale McGee shaqtin-a-fool moment, LeBron's resilience kept the Cavs always in the hunt and a brain fart moment from JR Smith took the game to overtime with scores tied at 107 apiece.
This gave LeBron the time that he needed but he could muster only another two points in the remaining duration to take his tally to 51 points from 19 of 32 shooting with 8 dimes and 8 boards. The Warriors though took the game 124-114.
#4 Jerry West (Los Angeles Lakers) v Boston Celtics, April 23 1969: 53 points
There is a reason why the man whose silhouette appears in the current NBA logo was an impactful figure for the Los Angeles Lakers. Drafted as the overall second pick in the 1960 NBA Draft by the then Minneapolis Lakers who relocated to Los Angeles soon after, Jerry West entered the league in the era of Boston Celtics' dominance.
Although he had to wait until 1972 to finally win an NBA title, it was arguably in the 1969 NBA Finals where Jerry West made the most difference. Complaining about exhaustion before the series began, West made full use of the Celtics' decision to not double team him in the first few fixtures by dropping a plethora of points on the perennial rivals of the Lakers.
He hit his highest number in Game 1 of the series itself when he made little work of the opposing guards Sam Jones and Larry Siegfried who turn by turn tried to lock him down in vain as West dropped 53 points, leading the Lakers to a 120-118 win.
Although Celtics took the series 4-3 in the end, this edition of the NBA Finals was all about Jerry West, who despite struggling from a hamstring issue, recorded a triple-double in the final game of the series. This led to him being awarded the first-ever NBA Finals MVP award, and he is the only person till date to win this accolade despite being on the losing end of the whole ordeal.
#3 Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) v Phoenix Suns, June 16, 1993: 55 points
What can I add about Michael Jordan that's not already known? Another mainstay in the greatest of all time debate, Michael Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Two three-peats, six NBA Finals MVPs, 14 All-Star appearances and many more achievements later, it's safe to say that MJ was one hell of a baller! And it was back in 1993 when he added another feat to his long list of milestones.
Squaring off against the Phoenix Suns who were led by regular season MVP Charles Barkley, Jordan averaged 41 points per game in the 1993 NBA Finals which was wrapped up in six games by the Bulls who also recorded their first three-peat in the process. And it was in Game 4 when Jordan upped his series average by 14 points to drop 55 points in Chicago.
The series score read 2-1 in the Bulls' favour when Jordan's robust efforts helped the home side pile on the misery for the Suns. Phoenix had just taken a victory on the road in Game 3 and it was imperative to stop them from doing the same again, which Jordan ensured in the end.
He capped off a brilliant night by scoring a difficult layup on the drive while getting fouled. The Bulls won the game 111-105 and in the end, it made all the difference as they wrapped up the title with a 4-2 series win.
#2 Rick Barry (San Francisco Warriors) v Philadelphia 76ers, April 18, 1967: 55 points
Another legend of the game, and undoubtedly one of the greatest players to ever represent the Warriors franchise, small forward Rick Barry was drafted into the NBA in 1965 by the then San Francisco Warriors. He repaid the faith kept by the side in him by leading the team to a season-on-season improvement of 18 wins, with the Warriors winning 35 games that year and Barry winning the Rookie of the Year award.
Improving on his numbers in his sophomore year in the NBA, Barry dropped 38 points against the likes of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to lead the West team to a victory, winning the All-Star Game MVP in the process.
In the same year, Barry, assisted by another Warriors legend and star center Nate Thurmond, took the Warriors to the NBA Finals where they faced off against probably the best ever Philadelphia 76ers side till date, led by Wilt Chamberlain.
The Warriors subsided to a 2-4 series loss but it wasn't without Rick Barry making certain records. It was in Game 3 of the 1967 NBA Finals when Barry had his 55-point outburst which helped the Warriors secure a 130-124 victory in what was their only home win of the series. Barry went on to average 40.8 points per game in the series, a record which stood for over 25 years until it was broken by a certain Michael Jordan.
#1 Elgin Baylor (Los Angeles Lakers) v Boston Celtics, April 14, 1962: 61 points
Another basketballing great coming out of the Lakers franchise, Elgin Baylor plied his trade as a small forward. He was drafted into the NBA in 1958 by the Minneapolis Lakers as the first overall pick of the class and boy did he deliver as per the expectations from him, starting things off by winning the Rookie of the Year award!
Recurring knee issues and the domination of the Celtics denied him an NBA ring as the Lakers won the title in the 1971-72 season, the one in which he retired after playing just 9 games. The Lakers did give him a ring although the NBA does not officially recognize it.
Leading the Los Angeles Lakers in total rebounds (11463) and in points per game (27.4), Elgin Baylor is undoubtedly one of the best players in the history of the game to have not won an NBA title. However, he did have his share of fun in the NBA Finals.
It was in the fifth game of the 1962 finals that Elgin Baylor recorded the still standing record of the most points in an NBA Finals game by exploding for 61 of them against who else but the Boston Celtics.
Coupling his scoring figures with 22 boards, Baylor led the Lakers to an important road victory which gave his side a 3-2 lead and a chance to seal the series at home, an opportunity that they eventually bungled.
Which current player do you think has the caliber of breaking into this list? Tell us in the comments below!
Guess the Lakers players!
