Highest Scoring NBA Playoff Game: Where Knicks’ Playoff Explosions Stack Up

Offense is back in the NBA.

The 2025–26 postseason has seen some incredibly high-scoring games as the speed of games has picked up, and offensive efficiency has risen. Four teams are averaging 110 or more points per game in the playoffs this year. The Thunder (122.1) and Knicks (117.8) lead the way, while the Spurs (114.0) aren’t far behind.

Already in the playoffs, New York dropped 140 on the Hawks in Game 6 of their first-round series, and 144 to close our their second-round sweep of the 76ers. San Antonio dropped 133 on the Timberwolves in Game 2 of their second-round series, and Oklahoma City has scored 131 points twice.

The Thunder and Suns combined to score 253 points in a 131–122 OKC victory in Game 4 of their opening round series, which seemed like an incredibly high-scoring game. But that total doesn’t even come close to some of the biggest scores we’ve seen in the playoffs.

What follows is a look at some of the highest-scoring postseason games of all time, both in combined scores and single-team performances.

Highest scoring NBA playoff game ever

The highest-scoring playoff game in NBA history came on May 11, 1992, when the Trail Blazers beat the Suns 153–151 in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series. The game went to double overtime and gave Portland a 3–1 lead in the series. The 304 points scored were 27 more than any playoff game in history.

In that contest, the Blazers were led by 33 points from Clyde Drexler, while Terry Porter chipped in 31, and Danny Ainge scored 25 off the bench. Jerome Kersey also had 21, while seven players were in double figures. Phoenix was led by Kevin Johnson’s 35 points and 14 assists. Tom Chambers had 29 in 42 minutes off the bench, and Jeff Hornacek had 23, nine assists and seven rebounds. The teams were tied 127–127 after regulation. The Blazers went on to reach the NBA Finals, where they lost to Michael Jordan and the Bulls in six games.

The second-highest-scoring game also involved the Trail Blazers and went to double overtime. It came on June 1, 2021, in Game 5 of the first-round series between Portland and the Nuggets. Denver came out on top 147–140 to take a 3–2 series lead. Nikola Jokić had 38 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while Monte Morris (28) and Michael Porter Jr. (26) also lit it up. No one on either team matched Damian Lillard’s 55 points, though the Blazers star added 10 assists and six rebounds in a losing effort. Porter’s corner three-pointer with 1:33 left wound up being the game-winning shot. Denver won the series in six games before being swept by Phoenix in the next round.

The third highest-scoring game in NBA playoff history was also the highest-scoring regulation contest ever in the postseason. In Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on April 26, 1983, the Spurs beat the Nuggets 152–133 for a combined 285 points.

The Spurs were an offensive juggernaut in that game and were consistent throughout, scoring 39 points in the first quarter, 43 in the second, 34 in the third and 36 in the fourth. George Gervin led all scorers with 42 points, while Johnny Moore (24), Gene Banks (22) and Mike Mitchell (22) all topped 20 for San Antonio. For Denver, Dan Issel topped the scoresheet with 28 points, while Alex English had 26, and Kiki Vandeweghe had 22. In what is the most incredible stat from that game, the two teams combined to hit only two three-pointers in the entire game, finishing 2-for-8. That's remarkable.

Here’s a look at the top 10 highest scoring playoff games of all-time.

Most points scored by a team in a playoff game

We’ve looked at combined scores, now it’s time to turn to the highest-scoring games from an individual team in NBA playoff history. The Blazers and Suns are both on the list from their 1992 double-overtime epic, with Portland checking in at No. 4, and Phoenix in sixth. But there are other big games to look at.

On April 28, 1990, the Celtics and Knicks faced off in Game 2 of their first-round series, and Boston hammered their rivals. The Celtics won 157–128 in a game that didn’t go to overtime. They scored a remarkable 83 points in the second half alone. They had eight players in double figures, and another with nine points. In a game like that, you’d expect Larry Bird to have gone off to drive the score that high. Nope. He finished with 15 points but added 16 assists. Kevin McHale was the team’s leading scorer with 31 points and Reggie Lewis (21), Robert Parish (18), Ed Pinckney (16), Dennis Johnson (12), Jim Paxson (11) and John Bagley (10) all contributed. The Celtics only hit one three-pointer as a team, going 1-for-6 from deep. They made 62 two-pointers while shooting 67.0% from the field.

Despite their Game 2 blowout, the Celtics wound up losing that series to the Knicks 3–2. New York fell to the eventual champion Pistons in the second round.

The second-highest scoring game by a team in the NBA playoffs came more than 55 years ago, when the Bucks beat the 76ers 156–120 in Game 2 of their opening-round series. Not surprisingly, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the way for Milwaukee as he scored 33 points and added 17 rebounds. Joe McGlocklin had 24, Flynn Robinson finished with 20, while Bob Dandridge (18), Freddie Crawford (18), Len Chappell (12) and Zaid Abdul-Aziz (11) all finished in double figures. The Bucks were 67-for-110 from the field (60.9%). They went on to win the series in five games.

In the next round, Milwaukee fell to the eventual champion Knicks in five games.

The third-highest team total came in the bubble. In Game 5 of the first round during the 2020 playoffs, the Clippers hammered the Mavericks 154–111 to take a 3–2 lead in the series. L.A. got big contributions from its stars in the game. Paul George had 35 points, while Kawhi Leonard had 32, Montrezel Harrell had 19 off the bench and Marcus Morris chipped in 12. The Clippers were on fire that night as they went 22-for-35 from three-point range, which was a ridiculous 63%. Luka Dončić did what he could in the first playoff series of his career as he scored 22 to lead Dallas.

The second-seeded Clippers closed out the series in six games, then lost to the Nuggets in seven games during the conference semifinals.

More NBA Playoffs From Sports Illustrated

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