most points scored in a game in the 1980s

Between the 1979-80 and 1988-89 seasons, Michael Jordan had the most points in a game, with 61 points on April 16, 1987 and on March 4, 1987.

Interpreted as:

most points by a player scored in a regular-season game in the 1980s

	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	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	61	4/16/1987	CHI	vs	ATL	41	10	1	4	1	22	38	57.9	0	3	0.0	17	21	81.0	64.6	5	5	3	3
2	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	61	3/4/1987	CHI	@	DET	43	7	3	3	3	22	39	56.4	0	0		17	18	94.4	65.0	3	4	5	0
3	Larry Bird L. Bird	60	3/12/1985	BOS	@	ATL	43	7	3	0	0	22	36	61.1	1	4	25.0	15	16	93.8	69.7	4	3	3	3
4	Bernard King B. King	60	12/25/1984	NYK	vs	NJN	41	7	4	0	0	19	30	63.3	0	0		22	26	84.6	72.4	2	5	5	2
5	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	59	4/3/1988	CHI	@	DET	42	4	6	2	2	21	27	77.8	0	1	0.0	17	19	89.5	83.4	2	2	1	4
6	Purvis Short P. Short	59	11/17/1984	GSW	vs	NJN	40	5	0	1	0	20	28	71.4	4	6	66.7	15	16	93.8	84.2	2	3	3	2
7	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	58	2/26/1987	CHI	vs	NJN	37	8	3	3	2	16	25	64.0	0	0		26	27	96.3	78.6	1	7	3	4
8	Dominique Wilkins D. Wilkins	57	12/10/1986	ATL	vs	CHI	40	9	4	2	1	19	28	67.9	0	1	0.0	19	21	90.5	76.5	4	5	2	1
9	Dominique Wilkins D. Wilkins	57	4/10/1986	ATL	vs	NJN	38	5	1	3	0	21	37	56.8	0	0		15	19	78.9	62.8	4	1	3	1
10	Purvis Short P. Short	57	1/7/1984	GSW	vs	SAS	42	15	1	1	0	24	38	63.2	2	2	100.0	7	8	87.5	68.6	8	7	3	2
11	Adrian Dantley A. Dantley	57	12/4/1982	UTA	vs	CHI	38	9	3	0	0	20	27	74.1	0	0		17	22	77.3	77.7	3	6	2	5
12	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	56	3/24/1987	CHI	vs	PHI	44	7	3	8	0	22	32	68.8	0	1	0.0	12	15	80.0	72.5	1	6	7	2
13	Kevin McHale K. McHale	56	3/3/1985	BOS	vs	DET	41	16	4	1	3	22	28	78.6	0	0		12	13	92.3	83.0	10	6	4	3
14	Kelly Tripucka K. Tripucka	56	1/29/1983	DET	vs	CHI	37	6	4			18	26	69.2	0	0		20	22	90.9	78.5				4
15	Bernard King B. King	55	2/16/1985	NYK	vs	NJN	44	11	3	1	0	19	33	57.6	0	1	0.0	17	23	73.9	63.8	7	4	6	4
16	Adrian Dantley A. Dantley	55	2/6/1981	UTA	vs	DEN	47	7	3	1	1	24	36	66.7	0	0		7	8	87.5	69.6	6	1	4	4
17	George Gervin G. Gervin	55	1/23/1980	SAS	@	IND	39	5	5	0	1	21	32	65.6	1	2	50.0	12	15	80.0	71.2				0
18	Dominique Wilkins D. Wilkins	54	2/3/1987	ATL	vs	BOS	47	5	2	3	0	19	34	55.9	0	2	0.0	16	20	80.0	63.1	1	4	5	3
19	Alex English A. English	54	11/19/1985	DEN	vs	HOU	37	4	1	0	0	21	30	70.0	0	0		12	12	100.0	76.5	1	3	1	3
20	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	53	1/21/1989	CHI	vs	PHX	41	14	8	2	1	20	28	71.4	0	0		13	15	86.7	76.6	1	13	4	4
21	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	53	4/12/1987	CHI	vs	IND	42	4	8	4	2	19	27	70.4	0	0		15	18	83.3	75.9	2	2	3	2
22	Dominique Wilkins D. Wilkins	53	1/12/1987	ATL	vs	LAC	37	6	2	2	3	19	25	76.0	1	1	100.0	14	19	73.7	79.4	3	3	1	3
23	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	53	1/8/1987	CHI	vs	POR	43	4	5	3	2	20	34	58.8	0	0		13	16	81.3	64.6	3	1	3	3
24	Larry Bird L. Bird	53	3/30/1983	BOS	vs	IND	33	8	3	1	2	21	30	70.0	0	1	0.0	11	11	100.0	76.1	3	5	6	2
25	Adrian Dantley A. Dantley	53	4/10/1982	UTA	vs	DEN	45	12	6	0	0	19	28	67.9	0	0		15	18	83.3	73.8	9	3	1	4