who is the last nba player to score 44 points in a game

Lauri Markkanen put up 51 points against the Suns on Monday.

Interpreted as:

Who is the last NBA player to score 44 or more points in a game?

	NAME	DATE	PTS	TM		OPP	MIN	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TOV	PF	+/-
1	Lauri Markkanen L. Markkanen	10/27/2025	51	UTA	vs	PHX	45	14	3	0	0	14	32	43.8	6	13	46.2	17	17	100.0	64.6	5	9	1	2	+26
2	Austin Reaves A. Reaves	10/26/2025	51	LAL	@	SAC	39	11	9	2	0	12	22	54.5	6	10	60.0	21	22	95.5	80.5	1	10	2	1	+22
3	Luka Dončić L. Dončić	10/24/2025	49	LAL	vs	MIN	35	11	8	0	0	14	23	60.9	5	12	41.7	16	19	84.2	78.1	1	10	3	4	+18
4	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander S. Gilgeous-Alexander	10/23/2025	55	OKC	@	IND	45	8	5	2	1	15	31	48.4	2	7	28.6	23	26	88.5	64.8	0	8	2	4	+9
5	Aaron Gordon A. Gordon	10/23/2025	50	DEN	@	GSW	39	8	2	0	1	17	21	81.0	10	11	90.9	6	6	100.0	105.8	0	8	2	1	-1
6	Nikola Jokić N. Jokić	5/13/2025	44	DEN	@	OKC	44	15	5	2	0	17	25	68.0	5	7	71.4	5	5	100.0	80.9	6	9	2	4	-8
7	Donovan Mitchell D. Mitchell	5/6/2025	48	CLE	vs	IND	36	5	9	4	1	15	30	50.0	1	7	14.3	17	21	81.0	61.2	2	3	5	4	+13
8	Anthony Edwards A. Edwards	4/10/2025	44	MIN	@	MEM	38	5	3	1	1	13	19	68.4	7	11	63.6	11	13	84.6	89.0	1	4	5	3	+15
9	Luka Dončić L. Dončić	4/9/2025	45	LAL	@	DAL	38	8	6	4	0	16	28	57.1	7	10	70.0	6	9	66.7	70.4	1	7	3	4	+26
10	Stephen Curry S. Curry	4/1/2025	52	GSW	@	MEM	37	10	8	5	1	16	31	51.6	12	20	60.0	8	8	100.0	75.3	1	9	2	2	+17
11	Nikola Jokić N. Jokić	4/1/2025	61	DEN	vs	MIN	53	10	10	2	0	18	29	62.1	6	11	54.5	19	24	79.2	77.1	2	8	4	5	+2
12	Quentin Grimes Q. Grimes	3/17/2025	46	PHI	@	HOU	43	13	4	2	1	15	27	55.6	8	14	57.1	8	13	61.5	70.3	2	11	6	3	-6
13	Desmond Bane D. Bane	3/17/2025	44	MEM	@	SAC	41	6	4	1	0	15	25	60.0	7	7	100.0	7	7	100.0	78.3	0	6	4	2	0
14	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander S. Gilgeous-Alexander	3/15/2025	48	OKC	@	DET	38	4	6	3	1	17	26	65.4	4	6	66.7	10	10	100.0	78.9	0	4	2	1	+18
15	Ja Morant J. Morant	3/14/2025	44	MEM	vs	CLE	35	8	7	1	0	17	22	77.3	1	4	25.0	9	10	90.0	83.3	0	8	2	3	-6
16	Luka Dončić L. Dončić	3/13/2025	45	LAL	@	MIL	36	11	3	2	1	14	27	51.9	7	13	53.8	10	12	83.3	69.7	1	10	6	2	-16
17	Miles Bridges M. Bridges	3/7/2025	46	CHA	vs	CLE	39	8	2	2	0	15	32	46.9	4	10	40.0	12	13	92.3	61.0	1	7	1	4	+5
18	Coby White C. White	3/6/2025	44	CHI	@	ORL	37	5	1	2	0	16	28	57.1	7	15	46.7	5	6	83.3	71.8	0	5	1	3	+2
19	James Harden J. Harden	3/5/2025	50	LAC	vs	DET	38	4	5	1	1	14	24	58.3	6	13	46.2	16	20	80.0	76.2	0	4	5	2	+13
20	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander S. Gilgeous-Alexander	3/3/2025	51	OKC	vs	HOU	36	5	7	1	1	18	30	60.0	5	9	55.6	10	10	100.0	74.1	2	3	2	1	+6
21	Anthony Edwards A. Edwards	3/2/2025	44	MIN	@	PHX	36	5	7	2	0	12	22	54.5	6	14	42.9	14	14	100.0	78.1	0	5	1	0	+22
22	Quentin Grimes Q. Grimes	3/1/2025	44	PHI	vs	GSW	37	6	1	3	1	18	24	75.0	6	9	66.7	2	8	25.0	79.9	1	5	2	3	-5
23	Jayson Tatum J. Tatum	2/28/2025	46	BOS	vs	CLE	41	16	9	0	3	19	37	51.4	4	12	33.3	4	5	80.0	58.7	5	11	3	4	+5
24	Stephen Curry S. Curry	2/27/2025	56	GSW	@	ORL	34	4	3	2	0	16	25	64.0	12	19	63.2	12	12	100.0	92.5	0	4	4	0	+15
25	Karl-Anthony Towns K. Towns	2/12/2025	44	NYK	vs	ATL	47	10	3	2	0	14	25	56.0	7	10	70.0	9	11	81.8	73.7	1	9	7	4	+7