what is the most points in a game in under 45 minutes

Kobe Bryant has dropped the most points in a game with fewer than 45 minutes played, with 81 points versus the Raptors on January 22, 2006.

Interpreted as:

What is the most points by a player in a regular-season game in under 45 minutes?

	NAME	PTS	MIN	DATE	TM		OPP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TOV	PF	+/-
1	Kobe Bryant K. Bryant	81	42	1/22/2006	LAL	vs	TOR	6	2	3	1	28	46	60.9	7	13	53.8	18	20	90.0	73.9	2	4	3	1	+25
2	Luka Dončić L. Dončić	73	45	1/26/2024	DAL	@	ATL	10	7	1	0	25	33	75.8	8	13	61.5	15	16	93.8	91.2	0	10	4	1	+13
3	David Thompson D. Thompson	73	43	4/9/1978	DEN	@	DET	7	2	0	1	28	38	73.7				17	20	85.0	78.0	3	4	4	2
4	Damian Lillard D. Lillard	71	39	2/26/2023	POR	vs	HOU	6	6	0	0	22	38	57.9	13	22	59.1	14	14	100.0	80.4	1	5	2	0	+21
5	David Robinson D. Robinson	71	44	4/24/1994	SAS	@	LAC	14	5	0	2	26	41	63.4	1	2	50.0	18	25	72.0	68.3	4	10	8	2
6	Joel Embiid J. Embiid	70	37	1/22/2024	PHI	vs	SAS	18	5	1	1	24	41	58.5	1	2	50.0	21	23	91.3	68.5	9	9	1	2	+11
7	Devin Booker D. Booker	70	45	3/24/2017	PHX	@	BOS	8	6	3	1	21	40	52.5	4	11	36.4	24	26	92.3	68.0	2	6	5	3	-6
8	Pete Maravich P. Maravich	68	43	2/25/1977	NOJ	vs	NYK	6	6	3	2	26	43	60.5				16	19	84.2	66.2	1	5		6
9	Giannis Antetokounmpo G. Antetokounmpo	64	37	12/13/2023	MIL	vs	IND	14	3	4	1	20	28	71.4	0	3	0.0	24	32	75.0	76.0	3	11	4	1	+29
10	Rick Barry R. Barry	64	43	3/26/1974	GSW	vs	POR	10	9	5	0	30	45	66.7				4	5	80.0	67.8	0	10		4
11	George Gervin G. Gervin	63	33	4/9/1978	SAS	@	NOJ	2	1	2	1	23	49	46.9				17	20	85.0	54.5				3
12	Jerry West J. West	63	39	1/17/1962	LAL	vs	NYK	3	3			22	36	61.1				19	22	86.4	69.0				5
13	Devin Booker D. Booker	62	38	1/26/2024	PHX	@	IND	5	4	1	2	22	37	59.5	6	12	50.0	12	13	92.3	72.6	0	5	4	2	+1
14	Karl-Anthony Towns K. Towns	62	38	1/22/2024	MIN	vs	CHA	8	2	0	0	21	35	60.0	10	15	66.7	10	14	71.4	75.3	3	5	7	2	0
15	Stephen Curry S. Curry	62	36	1/3/2021	GSW	vs	POR	5	4	0	0	18	31	58.1	8	16	50.0	18	19	94.7	78.8	1	4	5	0	+20
16	Carmelo Anthony C. Anthony	62	39	1/24/2014	NYK	vs	CHA	13	0	0	0	23	35	65.7	6	11	54.5	10	10	100.0	78.7	1	12	0	1	+34
17	Kobe Bryant K. Bryant	62	33	12/20/2005	LAL	vs	DAL	8	0	3	0	18	31	58.1	4	10	40.0	22	25	88.0	73.8	3	5	2	3	+35
18	Jalen Brunson J. Brunson	61	43	3/29/2024	NYK	@	SAS	4	6	1	0	25	47	53.2	5	13	38.5	6	6	100.0	61.4	1	3	1	2	+20
19	Damian Lillard D. Lillard	61	41	8/11/2020	POR	@	DAL	5	8	1	0	17	32	53.1	9	17	52.9	18	18	100.0	76.4	2	3	3	2	+8
20	James Harden J. Harden	61	37	3/22/2019	HOU	vs	SAS	7	1	3	0	19	34	55.9	9	13	69.2	14	17	82.4	73.5	2	5	3	3	+18
21	James Harden J. Harden	61	40	1/23/2019	HOU	@	NYK	15	4	5	0	17	38	44.7	5	20	25.0	22	25	88.0	62.2	6	9	5	3	+19
22	LeBron James L. James	61	41	3/3/2014	MIA	vs	CHA	7	4	0	0	22	33	66.7	8	10	80.0	9	12	75.0	79.7	3	4	2	2	+16
23	Kobe Bryant K. Bryant	61	37	2/2/2009	LAL	@	NYK	0	3	0	1	19	31	61.3	3	6	50.0	20	20	100.0	76.6	0	0	2	1	+19
24	Karl Malone K. Malone	61	33	1/27/1990	UTA	vs	MIL	18	2	3	0	21	26	80.8	0	0		19	23	82.6	84.4	9	9	2	2
25	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	61	41	4/16/1987	CHI	vs	ATL	10	1	4	1	22	38	57.9	0	3	0.0	17	21	81.0	64.6	5	5	3	3