Bill Russell vs Wilt Chamberlain: Who was the better NBA centre?
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NBA Finals Records: Who Has the Most Points, Rebounds, Assists in a Single Game?
Edwin Kiplagat
updated at June 5, 2023 at 8:58 AM
- The NBA Finals sees two teams lock horns to determine who lifts the Larry O'Brien Trophy
- This point of the season is also where stars are born and legacies are cemented in the sport
- Sports Brief looks at some of the records in the NBA Finals, including most points and assists
The 2023 NBA Finals are only two games in, and we've already seen some incredible performances from the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat.
The NBA Finals gives players a chance to write their names in history books, as many before them have done.
But who has the most points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks in a single game?
Source: Getty Images
Denver's Nikola Jokic is currently averaging a triple-double in the playoffs and is making an impact in the most important statistical categories.
Elgin Baylor's record of 61 points in an NBA Finals has stood since 1962.
Sports Brief looks at some of the records in the NBA Finals, per Sporting News.
Most points in NBA Finals
Scoring in the NBA is tough, and even the greatest players will admit that.
Only six players have scored 50 or more points in an NBA finals game, and of these, only two players have done so in this century.
Rank | Player | Points |
1 | Elgin Baylor (1962) | 61 |
2 | Rick Barry (1967), Michael Jordan (1993) | 55 |
3 | Jerry West (1969) | 53 |
4 | LeBron James (2018 | 51 |
5 | Giannis Antetokounmpo (2021), Bob Petit (1958) | 50 |
Most rebounds in NBA Finals
Bill Russell was the king of rebounding back in his day and has two Finals games with 40 rebounds. Some of the records he set over 50 years ago will probably never be broken.
Russell and Chamberlain combined for 73 of the top 100 single-game rebounding outputs in Finals history, per NBC Sports.
Top 20 highest-scoring NBA games in the history of the league
NBA
Rank | Player | Rebounds |
1 | Bill Russell (2) | 40 |
2 | Bill Russell (2), Wilt Chamberlain (2) | 38 |
3 | Bill Russell | 35 |
4 | Wilt Chamberlain | 33 |
5 | Bill Russell (3) | 32 |
Who has the most assists?
Magic Johnson has almost every assist record in the NBA Finals. There have been six instances in Finals history that a player has registered 19 or more assists in a game, and five of them came from the Lakers icon.
Rank | Player | Assists |
1 | Magic Johnson | 21 |
2 | Magic Johnson (2) | 20 |
3 | Magic Johnson (2), Bob Cousy (2), Walt Frazier | 19 |
4 | Jerry West | 18 |
5 | Magic Johnson (3), Dennis Johnson, Robert Reid | 17 |
Who has the most turnovers?
Since he was trying to set up his teammates many times, Magic Johnson also turned the ball over plenty of times. He also holds the record for the most turnovers in an NBA Finals game.
Most assists in NBA game: who holds the record in 2024?
NBA
Rank | Player | Turnovers |
1 | Magic Johnson | 10 |
2 | Magic Johnson | 9 |
3 | Magic Johnson, LeBron James (2), Stephen Curry, Manu Ginobili, Draymond Green, Kenyon Martin, Hakeem Olajuwon, Gus Williams | 8 |
Most blocks in NBA Finals
Dwight Howard reached the 2009 NBA Finals with the Orlando Magic, and although it ended badly for him, he made some history against the Los Angeles Lakers. His 9 blocks in Game 4 is still an NBA record.
Rank | Player(s) | Blocks |
1 | Dwight Howard | 9 |
2 | Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Walton | 8 |
3 | Tim Duncan (2), Andrew Bynum, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dennis Johnson | 7 |
4 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Ewing, Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Rasheed Wallace | 6 |
Most three-pointers in NBA Finals
Stephen Curry is the best shooter in the history of basketball. He holds the record for the most three-pointers in NBA history with 4,008, both in the regular season and the playoffs. The Golden State Warriors star made nine three in Game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, per Stat Head.
Ranking the top 15 players with the most turnovers in an NBA game
NBA
Rank | Player | 3-pointers |
1 | Stephen Curry | 9 |
2 | Ray Allen | 8 |
3 | Stephen Curry (5), Ray Allen, Devin Booker, Danny Green, Kyrie Irving, Mike Miller, Scottie Pippen, Duncan Robinson, J.R. Smith, Kenny Smith, Klay Thompson | 7 |
Nikola Jokic has a chance to make history in the 2023 NBA Finals. If he leads the Nuggets to the title and averages a triple-double, he will undoubtedly be one of the greatest players of all time.
Greatest NBA Finals performances
Sports Brief has also looked at the greatest NBA Finals performances of all time.
Michael Jordan has some iconic performances, including displays in 1993 and 1998.
Jerry West was terrific in the 1969 NBA Finals and was also the first-ever Finals MVP.
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