Moses Malone and Calvin Murphy were tied for the most points in a 1981 playoff game, with 42 points.

Interpreted as:

most points by a player in a playoff game in 1981

	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	Moses Malone M. Malone	42	4/26/1981	HOU	vs	KCK	48	23	1	0	1	16	34	47.1	0	0		10	14	71.4	52.3				3
2	Calvin Murphy C. Murphy	42	4/17/1981	HOU	@	SAS	42	1	3	0	0	19	28	67.9	0	1	0.0	4	4	100.0	70.6			5	2
3	Moses Malone M. Malone	41	4/10/1981	HOU	vs	SAS	48	15	0	0	1	16	23	69.6	0	0		9	14	64.3	70.3			4	3
4	Mychal Thompson M. Thompson	40	4/3/1981	POR	@	KCK	49	11	2	2	5	15	23	65.2	0	0		10	12	83.3	70.7	4	7	1	4
5	Julius Erving J. Erving	38	4/5/1981	PHI	vs	MIL	42	9	1	2	6	14	21	66.7	0	0		10	16	62.5	67.8			4	3
6	Moses Malone M. Malone	38	4/1/1981	HOU	@	LAL	46	23	4	1	2	15	34	44.1	0	0		8	10	80.0	49.5	11	12	3	3
7	Reggie Theus R. Theus	37	4/3/1981	CHI	vs	NYK	46	4	11	4	0	10	18	55.6	0	0		17	18	94.4	71.4				5
8	Moses Malone M. Malone	36	4/29/1981	HOU	@	KCK	48	11	2	0	2	12	17	70.6	0	0		12	16	75.0	74.9			2	3
9	Marques Johnson M. Johnson	36	4/19/1981	MIL	@	PHI	48	9	3	1	2	16	25	64.0	0	0		4	5	80.0	66.2			0	1
10	Moses Malone M. Malone	36	4/15/1981	HOU	vs	SAS	48	10	1	0	2	15	25	60.0	0	1	0.0	6	9	66.7	62.2			4	3
11	Calvin Murphy C. Murphy	36	4/14/1981	HOU	@	SAS	32	1	4	0	0	16	23	69.6	0	1	0.0	4	4	100.0	72.7			4	5
12	Andrew Toney A. Toney	35	4/22/1981	PHI	@	BOS	31	7	7	1	0	11	23	47.8	0	1	0.0	13	14	92.9	60.0	1	6	4	3
13	Larry Bird L. Bird	35	4/12/1981	BOS	@	CHI	44	11	5	3	1	13	22	59.1	1	1	100.0	8	8	100.0	68.6				3
14	Marques Johnson M. Johnson	35	4/12/1981	MIL	vs	PHI	41	8	7	0	0	16	25	64.0	0	0		3	3	100.0	66.5			1	2
15	Larry Bird L. Bird	34	4/22/1981	BOS	vs	PHI	41	16	5	0	1	14	21	66.7	0	0		6	7	85.7	70.6	2	14	5	3
16	Moses Malone M. Malone	34	4/14/1981	HOU	@	SAS	48	13	2	1	2	8	18	44.4	0	0		18	20	90.0	63.4			2	5
17	Calvin Murphy C. Murphy	34	4/8/1981	HOU	@	SAS	30	1	1	0	0	15	26	57.7	1	1	100.0	3	3	100.0	62.2			3	2
18	Mark Olberding M. Olberding	34	4/8/1981	SAS	vs	HOU	35	5	4	0	0	14	20	70.0	0	0		6	6	100.0	75.1			0	3
19	Billy Ray Bates B. Ray Bates	34	4/5/1981	POR	vs	KCK	38	5	4	3	0	16	28	57.1	0	0		2	2	100.0	58.9	2	3	2	4
20	Larry Bird L. Bird	33	4/21/1981	BOS	vs	PHI	48	10	3	1	0	14	29	48.3	0	0		5	5	100.0	52.9			1	4
21	George Gervin G. Gervin	33	4/12/1981	SAS	@	HOU	44	4	2	1	3	12	24	50.0	0	0		9	12	75.0	56.4			3	4
22	Robert Reid R. Reid	33	4/12/1981	HOU	vs	SAS	48	5	6	4	4	11	15	73.3	0	0		11	14	78.6	78.0			2	4
23	George Gervin G. Gervin	33	4/10/1981	SAS	@	HOU	39	8	2	0	0	14	22	63.6	0	1	0.0	5	5	100.0	68.2			3	3
24	Moses Malone M. Malone	33	4/3/1981	HOU	vs	LAL	48	15	2	0	2	15	19	78.9	0	0		3	8	37.5	73.3			5	4
25	Larry Bird L. Bird	32	4/29/1981	BOS	vs	PHI	43	11	5	3	2	11	24	45.8	0	0		10	10	100.0	56.3			6	4