NBA Single Game Records

NBA Single Game Records

NBA Single Game Records

Why records before 1983-84 aren't listed

Basketball Reference's data is largely complete for most stats going back to the league's founding. However, there are enough missing records before the 1983-84 season that we don't feel comfortable definitively listing single game records prior to that season.

Notable exception: Points scored. This record is complete enough that we do list it for earlier seasons.

The trade-off

This cutoff does exclude many of the sport's legends from the single game record lists. We recognize that's a meaningful loss, but we've decided it's preferable to listing records that might later prove incorrect if and when new data is uncovered.

Want the details?

For a season-by-season breakdown of how many game records are missing, see our Data Coverage Summary.

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