Since 1979-80, Kobe Bryant has posted the most points in a game, with 81 points against the Raptors on January 22, 2006.

most points by an nba player in a game since 1980

Interpreted as:

most points by an NBA player in a regular-season game since 1980

NAME	PTS	DATE	TM		OPP	MIN	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	PF	+/-
Kobe Bryant	81	1/22/2006	LAL	vs	TOR	42	6	2	3	1	3	28	46	60.9	7	13	53.8	18	20	90.0	1	+25
Luka Doncic	73	1/26/2024	DAL	@	ATL	45	10	7	1	0	4	25	33	75.8	8	13	61.5	15	16	93.8	1	+13
Damian Lillard	71	2/26/2023	POR	vs	HOU	39	6	6	0	0	2	22	38	57.9	13	22	59.1	14	14	100.0	0	+21
Donovan Mitchell	71	1/2/2023	CLE	vs	CHI	50	8	11	0	1	4	22	34	64.7	7	15	46.7	20	25	80.0	3	+19
David Robinson	71	4/24/1994	SAS	@	LAC	44	14	5	0	2	8	26	41	63.4	1	2	50.0	18	25	72.0	2
Joel Embiid	70	1/22/2024	PHI	vs	SAS	37	18	5	1	1	1	24	41	58.5	1	2	50.0	21	23	91.3	2	+11
Devin Booker	70	3/24/2017	PHX	@	BOS	45	8	6	3	1	5	21	40	52.5	4	11	36.4	24	26	92.3	3	-6
Michael Jordan	69	3/28/1990	CHI	@	CLE	50	18	6	4	1	2	23	37	62.2	2	6	33.3	21	23	91.3	5
Kobe Bryant	65	3/16/2007	LAL	vs	POR	50	7	3	3	0	2	23	39	59.0	8	12	66.7	11	12	91.7	3	+4
Giannis Antetokounmpo	64	12/13/2023	MIL	vs	IND	37	14	3	4	1	4	20	28	71.4	0	3	0.0	24	32	75.0	1	+29
Michael Jordan	64	1/16/1993	CHI	vs	ORL	47	6	1	5	0	2	27	49	55.1	1	5	20.0	9	11	81.8	5
Devin Booker	62	1/26/2024	PHX	@	IND	38	5	4	1	2	4	22	37	59.5	6	12	50.0	12	13	92.3	2	+1
Karl-Anthony Towns	62	1/22/2024	MIN	vs	CHA	38	8	2	0	0	7	21	35	60.0	10	15	66.7	10	14	71.4	2	0
Stephen Curry	62	1/3/2021	GSW	vs	POR	36	5	4	0	0	5	18	31	58.1	8	16	50.0	18	19	94.7	0	+20
Carmelo Anthony	62	1/24/2014	NYK	vs	CHA	39	13	0	0	0	0	23	35	65.7	6	11	54.5	10	10	100.0	1	+34
Kobe Bryant	62	12/20/2005	LAL	vs	DAL	33	8	0	3	0	2	18	31	58.1	4	10	40.0	22	25	88.0	3	+35
Tracy McGrady	62	3/10/2004	ORL	vs	WAS	46	10	5	1	0	6	20	37	54.1	5	14	35.7	17	26	65.4	1	+10
Jalen Brunson	61	3/29/2024	NYK	@	SAS	43	4	6	1	0	1	25	47	53.2	5	13	38.5	6	6	100.0	2	+20
Damian Lillard	61	8/11/2020	POR	@	DAL	41	5	8	1	0	3	17	32	53.1	9	17	52.9	18	18	100.0	2	+8
Damian Lillard	61	1/20/2020	POR	vs	GSW	45	10	7	1	0	2	17	37	45.9	11	20	55.0	16	16	100.0	1	+13
James Harden	61	3/22/2019	HOU	vs	SAS	37	7	1	3	0	3	19	34	55.9	9	13	69.2	14	17	82.4	3	+18
James Harden	61	1/23/2019	HOU	@	NYK	40	15	4	5	0	5	17	38	44.7	5	20	25.0	22	25	88.0	3	+19
LeBron James	61	3/3/2014	MIA	vs	CHA	41	7	4	0	0	2	22	33	66.7	8	10	80.0	9	12	75.0	2	+16
Kobe Bryant	61	2/2/2009	LAL	@	NYK	37	0	3	0	1	2	19	31	61.3	3	6	50.0	20	20	100.0	1	+19
Shaquille O'Neal	61	3/6/2000	LAL	@	LAC	45	23	3	0	0	4	24	35	68.6	0	0		13	22	59.1	2	+16