most points by a player in first start nba game

Bob Rule posted the most points by a player as a starter in the first team game, with 36 points against the Celtics on October 17, 1970.

NAME PTS DATE TM OPP MIN REB AST STL BLK FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% TS% OREB DREB TOV PF +/-
1 Bob Rule
B. Rule
36
10/17/1970
SEA SEA
vs
BOS BOS
39
15
3
16
29
55.2
4
4
100.0
58.5
2
2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
K. Abdul-Jabbar
32
10/17/1970
MIL MIL
@
ATL ATL
41
17
0
13
23
56.5
6
8
75.0
60.3
4
3 Jim Barnett
J. Barnett
31
10/16/1970
POR POR
vs
CLE CLE
37
3
4
10
18
55.6
11
13
84.6
65.3
5
4 Jerry Lucas
J. Lucas
31
10/16/1970
SFW SFW
vs
DET DET
38
16
2
14
23
60.9
3
3
100.0
63.7
2
5 Dick Van Arsdale
D. Van Arsdale
30
10/15/1970
PHX PHX
vs
BOS BOS
42
6
4
11
24
45.8
8
10
80.0
52.8
4
6 Jerry West
J. West
29
10/16/1970
LAL LAL
@
CHI CHI
46
5
12
11
23
47.8
7
9
77.8
53.8
4
7 Bob Love
B. Love
28
10/13/1970
CHI CHI
vs
SDR SDR
44
11
2
12
25
48.0
4
5
80.0
51.5
4
8 Dave Bing
D. Bing
27
10/16/1970
DET DET
@
SFW SFW
36
6
8
9
19
47.4
9
10
90.0
57.7
3
9 Dave Cowens
D. Cowens
27
10/15/1970
BOS BOS
@
PHX PHX
40
21
1
11
18
61.1
5
8
62.5
62.7
4
10 Wilt Chamberlain
W. Chamberlain
26
10/16/1970
LAL LAL
@
CHI CHI
48
31
7
10
18
55.6
6
16
37.5
51.9
2
11 Chet Walker
C. Walker
26
10/13/1970
CHI CHI
vs
SDR SDR
39
15
2
11
22
50.0
4
4
100.0
54.7
0
12 John Havlicek
J. Havlicek
25
10/15/1970
BOS BOS
@
PHX PHX
41
4
4
10
23
43.5
5
5
100.0
49.6
3
13 Fred Carter
F. Carter
24
10/20/1970
BAL BAL
vs
SFW SFW
38
6
6
10
22
45.5
4
5
80.0
49.6
5
14 Stu Lantz
S. Lantz
24
10/13/1970
SDR SDR
@
CHI CHI
38
1
1
9
18
50.0
6
9
66.7
54.6
1
15 John Hummer
J. Hummer
23
10/27/1970
BUF BUF
@
POR POR
39
16
3
8
23
34.8
7
12
58.3
40.7
6
16 Nate Archibald
N. Archibald
23
10/24/1970
CIN CIN
@
NYK NYK
48
3
4
8
18
44.4
7
10
70.0
51.3
5
17 Jack Marin
J. Marin
23
10/20/1970
BAL BAL
vs
SFW SFW
30
2
1
10
18
55.6
3
3
100.0
59.5
1
18 John Warren
J. Warren
23
10/16/1970
CLE CLE
@
POR POR
48
1
2
11
18
61.1
1
2
50.0
60.9
1
19 Connie Hawkins
C. Hawkins
23
10/15/1970
PHX PHX
vs
BOS BOS
44
9
6
9
22
40.9
5
8
62.5
45.1
0
20 Walt Bellamy
W. Bellamy
21
10/17/1970
ATL ATL
vs
MIL MIL
48
12
4
10
20
50.0
1
4
25.0
48.3
4
21 Bob Dandridge
B. Dandridge
21
10/17/1970
MIL MIL
@
ATL ATL
38
10
1
7
18
38.9
7
8
87.5
48.8
4
22 Happy Hairston
H. Hairston
21
10/16/1970
LAL LAL
@
CHI CHI
37
9
4
9
19
47.4
3
3
100.0
51.7
6
23 Geoff Petrie
G. Petrie
21
10/16/1970
POR POR
vs
CLE CLE
41
8
3
9
24
37.5
3
6
50.0
39.4
5
24 Walt Frazier
W. Frazier
21
10/13/1970
NYK NYK
vs
BOS BOS
44
8
7
8
18
44.4
5
8
62.5
48.8
1
25 Clem Haskins
C. Haskins
18
10/15/1970
PHX PHX
vs
BOS BOS
36
7
8
6
17
35.3
6
6
100.0
45.8
0
Results may be incomplete. StatMuse has complete game-level data for games started going back to the 1981-82 season.

More Thunder Stats

Team Rankings

ORTG

120.3

3rd

DRTG

107.5

1st

NETRTG

12.8

1st

3P%

37.4

6th

2024-25 Conference Standings
TEAM W L PCT GB
1
Thunder Thunder
68
14
.829
2
Rockets Rockets
52
30
.634
16.0
3
Lakers Lakers
50
32
.610
18.0
4
Nuggets Nuggets
50
32
.610
18.0
5
Clippers Clippers
50
32
.610
18.0
Schedule
DATE MATCHUP TIME (ET)
Thu
6/19
OKC OKC
@
IND IND
8:30 PM
Sun
6/22
IND IND
@
OKC OKC
8:00 PM
Last Game
IND Pacers

2 - 2

104

Final

111

OKC Thunder

2 - 2

Fri 13 Jun 2025

NBA 2024-25 Leaders

NBA 2024-25 Rankings

NBA Fantasy 2024-25

NBA 2024-25 Betting

NBA 2024-25 Conference Standings

Western W L PCT GB
1
Thunder Thunder
68
14
.829
2
Rockets Rockets
52
30
.634
16.0
3
Lakers Lakers
50
32
.610
18.0
4
Nuggets Nuggets
50
32
.610
18.0
5
Clippers Clippers
50
32
.610
18.0
6
Timberwolves Timberwolves
49
33
.598
19.0
Eastern W L PCT GB
1
Cavaliers Cavaliers
64
18
.780
2
Celtics Celtics
61
21
.744
3.0
3
Knicks Knicks
51
31
.622
13.0
4
Pacers Pacers
50
32
.610
14.0
5
Bucks Bucks
48
34
.585
16.0
6
Pistons Pistons
44
38
.537
20.0

NBA 2024-25 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATE MATCHUP SCORE
Sun
3/30
SAC SAC
@
IND IND
109-111
Sun
3/30
MIA MIA
@
WAS WAS
120-94
Sun
3/30
LAC LAC
@
ORL ORL
96-87
Sun
3/30
UTA UTA
@
CHA CHA
106-110
Sun
3/30
BOS BOS
@
MEM MEM
117-103

Schedule

DATE MATCHUP TIME (ET)
Thu
6/19
OKC OKC
@
IND IND
8:30 PM
Sun
6/22
IND IND
@
OKC OKC
8:00 PM