There have been some legendary performances on the biggest stage of them all in the NBA, so let’s go through the top five greatest single game NBA Finals performances of all time.
This isn’t simply about who scored the most points. The moment matters. The pressure matters. The opponent matters. And most importantly, what that performance ultimately meant for winning a championship matters.
#5 Tim Duncan: 2003 NBA Finals Game 6
By 2003, the San Antonio Spurs were Tim Duncan’s team.
David Robinson was playing the final games of his Hall of Fame career, while a young Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were still years away from becoming the stars we remember today. Duncan was the engine behind everything San Antonio did.
The Spurs entered the Finals against the New Jersey Nets after Duncan had already won league MVP and carried San Antonio through a brutal Western Conference that included victories over the three time defending champion Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.
By Game 6, San Antonio was one victory away from Duncan’s second championship.
Then Duncan nearly did something that has never officially been accomplished in NBA playoff history.
He finished with 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and eight blocks.
A triple double in a championship clinching game would have been impressive enough. Duncan finished two blocks away from a quadruple double.
And the box score still doesn’t completely capture how much he controlled the game.
Duncan dominated the glass, protected the rim and repeatedly created opportunities for his teammates. The Spurs entered the fourth quarter trailing, but San Antonio completely took control down the stretch and defeated New Jersey 88 to 77 to capture the championship.
Duncan was named Finals MVP for the second time in his career.
It was the ultimate Tim Duncan game. No theatrics. No need to chase 50 points. Just complete control of virtually every aspect of basketball when his team needed one more victory.
21 points. 20 rebounds. 10 assists. Eight blocks. NBA champion.
The greatest power forward ever playing one of the most complete games the Finals has ever seen.
#4 Michael Jordan: 1998 NBA Finals Game 6
The 1998 Finals weren’t just another championship series for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Everybody knew the dynasty was reaching its end and it was the “Last Dance.”
Phil Jackson was expected to leave after the season. Scottie Pippen’s future in Chicago was uncertain. Jordan himself had made it clear that he didn’t want to play for another coach. The Bulls were chasing their sixth championship in eight seasons knowing that this could very well be their final run together.
And waiting for them once again were Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz.
Utah had home court advantage and had already taken Game 1 of the series. Chicago responded by winning three straight before the Jazz took Game 5 in Chicago, sending the series back to Utah with the Bulls leading 3 to 2.
Then things got even worse.
Scottie Pippen injured his back early in Game 6 and was severely limited. Chicago’s second best player could barely move properly, the Utah crowd was waiting for a Game 7, and Jordan was 35 years old playing his 103rd game of the season.
So Jordan did what he always did. TOOK OVER.
He scored 45 points, more than half of Chicago’s entire 87, while playing 44 minutes.
And then came one of the most famous sequences in NBA history.
With Chicago trailing 86 to 83 in the final minute, Jordan attacked the basket and scored to cut the deficit to one.
Utah went back to Karl Malone.
Jordan came from behind and stripped Malone of the basketball.
No timeout.
Jordan brought the ball up the floor with the championship sitting in his hands. Bryon Russell defended him. Jordan drove right, created his space, rose from midrange and buried the shot.
87 to 86 Bulls.
Utah couldn’t answer.
Chicago had its sixth championship. Jordan had his sixth Finals MVP. The Bulls had completed their second three peat.
And Michael Jordan’s final shot as a Chicago Bull was a championship winner.
Think about the story.
45 points. The steal. The shot. Championship number six. Finals MVP number six.
If Michael Jordan’s career had ended right there, you couldn’t have scripted a more perfect final scene for arguably the greatest player basketball has ever seen.
#3 LeBron James: 2016 NBA Finals Game 7
There may never be another NBA Finals Game 7 carrying quite as much weight for one player as this one did for LeBron James.
Cleveland had fallen behind 3 to 1 against a Golden State Warriors team that had just finished the regular season 73 and 9, the best record in NBA history.
No team had ever overcome a 3 to 1 deficit in the NBA Finals.
LeBron responded with 41 points in Game 5.
Then another 41 in Game 6.
And suddenly everything came down to one game in Oakland.
Game 7 was a war. Neither team could create separation, and with the score tied at 89 late in the fourth quarter, LeBron had already filled the box score.
Then came The Block.
Andre Iguodala appeared to have a clear path to a go ahead layup in transition. LeBron sprinted the length of the floor, tracked him down and pinned the shot against the backboard in one of the greatest defensive plays in NBA history.
Kyrie Irving would eventually hit the go ahead three over Stephen Curry, and Cleveland completed the impossible.
LeBron finished Game 7 with 27 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, two steals and three blocks, becoming just the third player in NBA history at the time to record a triple double in a Finals Game 7.
But this was bigger than a triple double.
Cleveland had not won a major professional sports championship in 52 years.
The Cavaliers had never won an NBA championship.
The Warriors had won 73 games.
Cleveland had been down 3 to 1.
And LeBron James delivered the championship he had promised his hometown.
A Game 7 triple double. The Block. The first 3 to 1 comeback in NBA Finals history. Cleveland’s first championship.
That’s why this performance belongs here.
#2 Magic Johnson: 1980 NBA Finals Game 6
The Lakers were one victory away from an NBA championship, but suddenly the man who had carried them there wasn’t available.
Kareem Abdul Jabbar had been magnificent throughout the 1980 Finals. In Game 5, he fought through an injured ankle to score 40 points and give Los Angeles a 3 to 2 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers.
But the injury was too severe. Kareem couldn’t play in Game 6. He didn’t even make the trip to Philadelphia.
The Lakers were heading on the road for a potential championship clinching game without their league MVP, leading scorer and dominant center.
And standing in the middle of all of that uncertainty was a 20 year old rookie named Magic Johnson.
Magic had already announced himself as one of basketball’s brightest young stars, but this was different. This was the NBA Finals. This was a closeout game on the road. And instead of simply asking their rookie point guard to play a bigger role, the Lakers did something almost unimaginable.
They asked their 6 foot 9 point guard to start at center in place of Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
Magic didn’t just survive.
He took over the game.
Johnson erupted for 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, shooting 14 of 23 from the field and 14 of 14 from the free throw line.
Think about what we’re talking about here.
A rookie point guard walked into a championship clinching road game, started at center because the league MVP was injured, played virtually the entire game and dropped 42 and 15.
Magic wasn’t locked into one position either. He handled the ball, attacked the basket, rebounded, created for his teammates and effectively played all five positions throughout the night.
Philadelphia wasn’t some team that accidentally wandered into the Finals. The 76ers had Julius Erving, one of the greatest players basketball had ever seen, and they were playing at home with an opportunity to force Game 7.
It didn’t matter.
Los Angeles defeated Philadelphia 123 to 107 and became NBA champions.
Magic became the first rookie in NBA history to win Finals MVP, an accomplishment that still stands as one of the most remarkable achievements the league has ever seen.
Perhaps the craziest part is that this was only the beginning.
Magic would go on to win five championships, three league MVPs, three Finals MVPs and become one of the greatest players in NBA history. But before Showtime became a dynasty and before Magic became an all time legend, a 20 year old rookie walked into Philadelphia without Kareem and gave basketball its first glimpse of just how special he was.
42 points. 15 rebounds. Seven assists. Three steals. Perfect from the free throw line. NBA champion. Finals MVP.
At 20 years old.
There is only one performance I can put ahead of it.
#1 Giannis Antetokounmpo: 2021 NBA Finals Game 6
Fifty.
With an NBA championship sitting one victory away, Giannis Antetokounmpo walked onto the court in Milwaukee and dropped 50 points.
And this championship had not started well for Milwaukee.
The Phoenix Suns won the first two games of the Finals and suddenly the Bucks found themselves down 2 to 0 with their championship dreams beginning to slip away.
They never lost again.
Milwaukee won Game 3. Then Game 4. Then Game 5 in Phoenix. Three straight victories had completely flipped the series, and the Bucks returned home with an opportunity to win their first championship in half a century.
That’s when Giannis delivered his masterpiece.
He finished with 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, shooting 16 of 25 from the field. And for a player whose free throw shooting had been relentlessly mocked throughout the playoffs, Giannis stepped to the line in the biggest game of his life and went 17 of 19.
Seventeen of nineteen.
In a championship clinching game.
The Bucks defeated Phoenix 105 to 98, completing four consecutive victories after falling behind 2 to 0 and winning their first NBA championship in 50 years.
Giannis walked away as Finals MVP.
That’s why this is number one for me.
It wasn’t a great performance that happened to occur in the Finals. The championship was won because Giannis produced one of the greatest individual basketball games we have ever seen.
Fifty points to win the title.
Fourteen rebounds.
Five blocks.
Nearly perfect from the free throw line when everyone expected that to be his weakness.
Four straight victories after falling behind 2 to 0.
And Milwaukee’s first championship in half a century.
You couldn’t write it any better.
Five legendary performances on basketball’s biggest stage, but for me, Giannis dropping 50 to deliver Milwaukee its first championship in 50 years stands above them all.
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