Jerry West has dropped the most points in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, with 53 points against the Celtics on April 23, 1969.

Interpreted as:

most points by a player in a game 1 of finals

	NAME	PTS	DATE	SEASON	SERIES	TM		OPP	MIN	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TOV	PF	+/-
1	Jerry West J. West	53	4/23/1969	1968-69	NBA Finals	LAL	vs	BOS	46	3	10			21	41	51.2				11	13	84.6	56.7				3
2	LeBron James L. James	51	5/31/2018	2017-18	NBA Finals	CLE	@	GSW	48	8	8	1	1	19	32	59.4	3	7	42.9	10	11	90.9	69.2	4	4	5	2	-13
3	Allen Iverson A. Iverson	48	6/6/2001	2000-01	NBA Finals	PHI	@	LAL	52	5	6	5	0	18	41	43.9	3	8	37.5	9	9	100.0	53.4	2	3	3	0	+6
4	LeBron James L. James	44	6/4/2015	2014-15	NBA Finals	CLE	@	GSW	46	8	6	0	0	18	38	47.4	2	8	25.0	6	10	60.0	51.9	0	8	4	2	-3
5	Shaquille O'Neal S. O'Neal	44	6/6/2001	2000-01	NBA Finals	LAL	vs	PHI	52	20	5	1	0	17	28	60.7	0	0		10	22	45.5	58.4	6	14	4	3	-6
6	Shaquille O'Neal S. O'Neal	43	6/7/2000	1999-00	NBA Finals	LAL	vs	IND	44	19	4	0	3	21	31	67.7	0	0		1	6	16.7	63.9	6	13	2	2	+18
7	George Mikan G. Mikan	42	4/4/1949	1948-49	NBA Finals	MIN	vs	WAS						14	21	66.7				14	17	82.4	73.7				4
8	Jerry West J. West	41	4/17/1966	1965-66	NBA Finals	LAL	@	BOS	51	8	2			15	27	55.6				11	13	84.6	62.7				3
9	Kobe Bryant K. Bryant	40	6/4/2009	2008-09	NBA Finals	LAL	vs	ORL	38	8	8	2	2	16	34	47.1	0	1	0.0	8	8	100.0	53.3	1	7	1	1	+25
10	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	39	6/3/1992	1991-92	NBA Finals	CHI	vs	POR	34	3	11	2	0	16	27	59.3	6	10	60.0	1	1	100.0	71.1	2	1	1	0
11	Kevin Durant K. Durant	38	6/1/2017	2016-17	NBA Finals	GSW	vs	CLE	38	9	8	0	0	14	26	53.8	3	6	50.0	7	8	87.5	64.4	2	7	0	1	+16
12	Willis Reed W. Reed	37	4/24/1970	1969-70	NBA Finals	NYK	vs	LAL	45	16	5			16	30	53.3				5	7	71.4	55.9				2
13	John Havlicek J. Havlicek	37	4/23/1969	1968-69	NBA Finals	BOS	@	LAL	48	12	4			14	26	53.8				9	9	100.0	61.7				3
14	Rick Barry R. Barry	37	4/14/1967	1966-67	NBA Finals	SFW	@	PHI	48	8	7			15	43	34.9				7	8	87.5	39.8				3
15	Bob Pettit B. Pettit	37	3/30/1957	1956-57	NBA Finals	STL	@	BOS	54	14				11	26	42.3				15	20	75.0	53.2				3
16	George Mikan G. Mikan	37	4/8/1950	1949-50	NBA Finals	MIN	@	SYR						13						11	14	78.6					4
17	Joe Fulks J. Fulks	37	4/16/1947	1946-47	NBA Finals	PHI	vs	CHI			0			13	31	41.9				11	14	78.6	49.8				3
18	Kevin Durant K. Durant	36	6/12/2012	2011-12	NBA Finals	OKC	vs	MIA	46	8	4	0	1	12	20	60.0	4	8	50.0	8	9	88.9	75.1	1	7	2	2	+15
19	Shaquille O'Neal S. O'Neal	36	6/5/2002	2001-02	NBA Finals	LAL	vs	NJN	40	16	1	1	4	12	22	54.5	0	0		12	21	57.1	57.6	2	14	5	2	-3
20	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	36	6/2/1991	1990-91	NBA Finals	CHI	vs	LAL	40	8	12	3	0	14	24	58.3	1	1	100.0	7	9	77.8	64.4	2	6	4	5
21	Elgin Baylor E. Baylor	36	4/17/1966	1965-66	NBA Finals	LAL	@	BOS	47	20	2			13	28	46.4				10	13	76.9	53.4				4
22	Bill Sharman B. Sharman	36	3/30/1957	1956-57	NBA Finals	BOS	vs	STL	46	4				12	31	38.7				12	13	92.3	49.0				2
23	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar K. Abdul-Jabbar	35	4/28/1974	1973-74	NBA Finals	MIL	vs	BOS	46	14	5	1	3	14	28	50.0				7	9	77.8	54.8	2	12		1
24	Elgin Baylor E. Baylor	35	4/7/1962	1961-62	NBA Finals	LAL	@	BOS	36	17	3			14	29	48.3				7	7	100.0	54.6				2
25	Stephen Curry S. Curry	34	6/2/2022	2021-22	NBA Finals	GSW	vs	BOS	38	5	5	3	0	12	25	48.0	7	14	50.0	3	4	75.0	63.5	0	5	2	3	-9