The 11 NBA Players Who’ve Scored The Most Points In A Single Playoff Run

Most NBA teams that make it to the playoffs get there with the help of a star player who leads the charge, and they’ll usually have a hard time advancing if they’re not able to pick up where they left off when the postseason rolls around.

Winning an NBA title obviously requires a team effort, but it never hurts to have a superstar who becomes an absolute scoring machine when it matters most.

The official start of the playoffs is right around the corner, so I figured there was no better time to take a look back at the players who’ve managed to score the most points over the course of a single postseason run.

There are a few basketball legends who’ve gone off in the postseason multiple times, and they’ll be making multiple appearances on this list.

Michael Jordan: 759 Points (1992)

Michael Jordan led the Bulls to six titles during his time in Chicago, and no player in NBA history has scored more points in the playoffs than His Airness did while leading the team to its second championship in 1992.

M.J. kicked things off with a bang with 46 points in the first game of the first round series with the Heat (which ended up being a three-game sweep) and matched that total to help the Bulls take a 3-2 lead over the Trail Blazers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals (they clinched the trophy in the next contest).

Jordan ended up averaging 34.1 points per game, and you won’t be shocked to learn this isn’t the last time we’ll be discussing him.

LeBron James: 748 Points (2018)

LeBron James firmly holds the record for the most career playoff points in NBA history; he has 8,162 heading into this year’s postseason, while Jordan is in a distant second with 5,987.

The Cavaliers made it to the NBA Finals four years in a row after LeBron returned to Cleveland in 2014 but only walked away with a single title in 2016 thanks to the Warriors dynasty.

James did what he could to end his second stint with the Cavs on a high note, as he averaged exactly 34 points per game during an unreal run that ended with Cleveland being swept by Golden State (his 51 points in the first game of that series was the most he scored in the playoffs that year).

As was the case with Jordan, this isn’t the last time we’ll be talking about LeBron.

 

Kawhi Leonard: 732 Points (2019)

The Warriors were hoping to pull off the threepeat after reaching the NBA Finals for the fifth consecutive time in 2019, but the Raptors spoiled those plans thanks in no small part to Kawhi Leonard.

Toronto’s primary weapon peaked with the 41 points he scored with the help of the buzzer-beater that propelled the Raptors to the Eastern Conference Finals after Leonard emerged as the hero in Game 7 of their series.

He ended up averaging 30.5 points during the 24 games the Raptors needed to secure the first championship in franchise history.

Hakeem Olajuwon: 725 Points (1995)

Hakeem Olajuwon is the best player to ever don a Rockets uniform, and he was the main reason they won back-to-back titles starting in 1994.

He had 664 points in that initial run (good for the 12th most of all time) but outdid himself in 1995 to earn the fourth spot on this list.

The Dream wasn’t able to top the 45 points he put up against the Jazz in the very first game of a playoff run where Houston played 22 games en route to winning the title, and he averaged nearly 33 points by the time they secured the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the second year in a row.

Allen Iverson: 723 Points (2001)

Allen Iverson was the main reason the 76ers were able to snap a seven-year playoff drought after they drafted him, and while he was never able to win a title during his time in the NBA, he did everything he could to check that box in 2001.

A.I. arguably peaked during the season where he earned his first and only MVP award while leading the 76ers to the NBA Finals before losing to the Lakers in a gentleman’s sweep.

Iverson was the star of the show for Philadelphia during a run that saw him average 32.9 points per game and explode for a playoff-high 54 points against the Raptors in the second round a couple of games before he dropped 52 against them.

Shaquille O'Neal: 707 Points (2000)

You might think Kobe Bryant would be ahead of Shaquille O’Neal on this list (we’ll be getting to him in a second), and the fact that he’s not highlights why The Big Diesel is one of the most dominant big men to ever do it.

The Lakers welcomed the start of the new millennium by kicking off the threepeat they’d complete against Iverson and the 76ers, and while Kobe certainly contributed to the cause with 465 points, L.A.’s offense firmly ran through Shaq that year.

Superman delivered a heroic performance and set the tone early by scoring 46 points in Game 1 of his squad’s first-round showdown with the Kings.

He put up at least 40 on four other occasions (including three times in the NBA Finals against the Pacers) and ended up averaging 30.7 points.

LeBron James: 697 Points (2012)

He’s baaaaaack!!!

The Heat also made it to the NBA Finals four years in a row after LeBron took his talents to South Beach in 2010, and his best playoff performance in Miami came during the first of two back-to-back title runs in 2012.

The Knicks were the only team who were able to hold him to less than 20 points (New York still lost the first-round series in five games), and LeBron peaked with a 45-point performance against the Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

They ended up beating the Thunder in five games to win the championship and cap off a postseason stretch where that year’s MVP and Finals MVP averaged 30.3 points.

 

Kobe Bryant: 695 Points (2009)

There he is!

2009 marked the first time Kobe Bryant and the Lakers won a championship since Shaq’s departure five years prior, and he stepped up his game after the team came up short against the Celtics the previous season.

Bryant scored a playoff-high 40 points three times in all three series after the first round and ultimately averaged 30.2 per game before earning his fourth title after the Lakers dispatched the Magic in five games.

Michael Jordan: 680 Points (1998)

I told you we weren’t done talking about Jordan, and that will still be the case after we discuss what he did during his “Last Dance” with the Bulls in 1998.

Chicago made fairly quick work of the Nets and the Hornets before the Pacers pushed the Eastern Conference Finals to seven games, but the Bulls ultimately prevailed to earn the right to face off against the Jazz to cap off the second threepeat of The Jordan Era.

It’s only natural that he waited until the final game of the series to outdo all of his previous performances with 45 points, which put an exclamation point on a run where he averaged 32.4.

Kobe Bryant: 671 Points (2010)

Kobe took a slight step back in 2010 compared to how he played in the postseason the previous year, but it was still more than enough to win what would end up being his fifth and final championship.

Bryant had a couple of uncharacteristically quiet games against the Thunder in the first round but bounced back as the playoffs progressed and hit his apex with the 40 he dropped on the Suns in the first game of the Western Conference Finals.

He’s the only person on this list to average less than 30 (he ended up at 29.2 points per game), but it was still more than enough to lead the Lakers to a win over the Celtics in the Finals.

Michael Jordan: 666 Points (1993)

We’re going to wrap things up with one more appearance from Jordan, who had a… devilishly good showing during the playoffs in 1993 (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

This run marked the end of his initial threepeat in Chicago, and he would have ended up higher here if the Bulls hadn’t needed just 19 games to seal the deal (the shortest of any run on this list).

Jordan exploded for 54 points against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals before outdoing himself with 55 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Suns, and actually has the highest average of any player we’ve mentioned so far with just around 35 points per game.