This season has already had 2 individual performances that are in the top 40 of game score

Game Score was created by John Hollinger to give a rough measure of a player’s productivity for a single game.

The formula is PTS + 0.4 * FG - 0.7 * FGA - 0.4*(FTA - FT) + 0.7 * ORB + 0.3 * DRB + STL + 0.7 * AST + 0.7 * BLK - 0.4 * PF - TOV.

This season already has 2 performances that are in the top 50 all time of NBA Game Score since the 1983–84 season.

The 13th greatest performance of all time happened on Nov 4th, 2026 by Victor Wembanyama against the Mavericks with a GmSc of 55.2.

Victor Wembanyama Statline - 52 points, 24 rebounds, 8 blocks, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, and 2 personal fouls, shooting 16-of-28 from the field and 19-of-23 from the free-throw line

GmSc=52+16(0.4)+24(0.1)+8(0.7)+2(0.7)+2(1.0)+19(0.4)−12(0.7)−4(0.4)−1(0.4)−2(0.4)=55.2

The 39th greatest performance of all time happened last night on Nov 12, 2026 by Cade Cunningham against the Wizards with a GmSc of 50.6.

Cade Cunningham Statline - 52 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers, and 2 personal fouls, shooting 16-of-25 from the field and 17-of-18 from the free-throw line

For comparison, here are what it considers the greatest 10 games since 83-84

Player

Score

Date

Statline

Michael Jordan

64.6

1990-03-28

69/18/6/4/1 on ²³⁄₃₇ FG, ²¹⁄₂₃ FT with 2 turnovers and 5 fouls

Luka Dončić

64.0

2024-01-26

73/10/7/1/0 on ²⁵⁄₃₃ FG, ¹⁵⁄₁₆ FT with 4 turnovers and 1 foul

Kobe Bryant

63.5

2006-01-22

81/6/2/3/1 on ²⁸⁄₄₆ FG, ¹⁸⁄₂₀ FT with 3 turnovers and 3 fouls

Joel Embiid

62.5

2024-01-22

70/18/5/1/1 on ²⁴⁄₄₁ FG, ²¹⁄₂₃ FT with 1 turnover and 2 fouls

Donovan Mitchell

60.8

2023-01-02

71/8/11/0/0 on ²²⁄₃₄ FG, ¹⁹⁄₂₄ FT with 4 turnovers and 3 fouls

Bam Adebayo

60.5

2026-03-10

83/9/4/0/1 on ²⁰⁄₄₃ FG, ³³⁄₄₀ FT with 2 turnovers and 3 fouls

Karl Malone

60.2

1990-01-27

61/18/2/3/0 on ²¹⁄₂₆ FG, ¹⁹⁄₂₃ FT with 2 turnovers and 2 fouls

Nikola Jokić

59.8

2025-12-25

56/16/15/2/1 on ²¹⁄₃₀ FG, ¹¹⁄₁₂ FT with 3 turnovers and 2 fouls

Damian Lillard

57.6

2023-02-26

71/6/6/0/0 on ²²⁄₃₈ FG, ¹⁴⁄₁₄ FT with 0 turnovers and 2 fouls

Giannis Antetokounmpo

57.0

2023-12-13

64/14/4/4/1 on ²⁰⁄₂₈ FG, ²⁴⁄₃₂ FT with 4 turnovers and 4 fouls

Source: Basketball Reference

TheRealPdGaming [OP] | DAL

81 | 9 hours ago

I will always fight for the boy Luka and say that

73/10/7/1/0 is an all time underrated game that doesn’t get appreciated enough.

He dominated the Hawks so throughly that instead of the national media praising this performance, they instead thrashed the performance by saying the NBA had no defense and after this game that year, they allowed crazy fouling on defense (Thats why everyone thought the wolves would make the finals).

Few_Mulberry6392

15 | 9 hours ago

Surprised Luka’s 60/20/10 game isn’t here too

TheRealPdGaming [OP] | DAL

31 | 9 hours ago

The 60/21/10 game is #12

JeanVicquemare

47 | 9 hours ago

73 points on ²⁵⁄₃₃ FG is crazy

mcg20k | DAL

3 | 8 hours ago

Would have been a 70 point triple double if anyone else on the team could hit a shot. He was trying his best for that and they just kept throwing up bricks.

One_Seaworthiness323

-11 | 9 hours ago

Well go back and watch those highlights. Hawks played zero defense.

JeanVicquemare

6 | 8 hours ago

They were defending him mostly 1v1, which is how he got to 73 points. They started sending doubles at him late in the game.

One_Seaworthiness323

-8 | 8 hours ago

Ok sure. Like I said watch those highlights. That was maybe the worst defense I’ve seen played in an nba game. Laughably bad

JeanVicquemare

9 | 8 hours ago

How does it compare to the defense played against Kobe in his 81 point game, Bam in his 83 point game, or Wilt in his 100 point game? Were they all against great defenses?

I think it’s obvious that if someone scores 73, the other team wasn’t doing a good job defending him. Just like with any great individual performance.

But still he had to make 25 of 33 shots, including 8 of 13 from 3. You can look at the shot chart here. https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2024/01/27/luka-doncic-dallas-mavericks-nba-history-73-points-explore-statistical-shot-by-shot-scoring/

Making 25 of 33 shots from all those spots on the floor is impressive no matter who’s in front of you.

Responsible-Still839 | POR

29 | 9 hours ago

I forgot all about that Dame game. 71/6/6 with zero turnovers on ²²⁄₃₈ shooting and ¹⁴⁄₁₄ from the line is just insane. All of these are obviously. Just forgot how good Dame could be in his prime.

Humblerbee | POR

12 | 8 hours ago

I still prefer that game 5 of the 2021 playoffs against the Nuggets when Dame dragged them to double overtime and was hitting the craziest shots, highest game score in a playoff loss ever.

55/10/6, 3 blocks, 1 steal, only 1 turnover. ¹⁷⁄₂₄ from the field, ⁹⁄₁₀ at the line, ¹²⁄₁₇ on three pointers, sinking a 3 with only 3 seconds on the clock to force OT, then sinking another 3 with 6 seconds left to force double OT. It was some 2018 LeBron in the Finals type Herculean carry job shit, even i

TheRealPdGaming [OP] | DAL

5 | 8 hours ago

Playoff wise, its the #1 game score game ever.

Rank

Player

GmSc

Date

vs. Opponent

Statline

Damian Lillard

55.9

2021-06-01

@ DEN

55/6/10/3/1 on ¹⁷⁄₂₄ FG, ⁵⁄₆ 3PT, ¹⁶⁄₁₇ FT with 4 turnovers

Charles Barkley

52.6

1994-05-04

@ GSW

56/14/4/3/1 on ²¹⁄₃₁ FG, ³⁄₃ 3PT, ¹¹⁄₁₃ FT with 2 turnovers

Kevin Durant

50.4

2021-06-15

vs. MIL

49/17/10/3/2 on ¹⁶⁄₂₃ FG, ³⁄₆ 3PT, ¹⁴⁄₁₆ FT with 3 turnovers

Michael Jordan

49.8

1992-04-29

vs. MIA

56/5/5/4/1 on ²⁰⁄₃₀ FG, ¹⁶⁄₁₈ FT with 2 turnovers

Sleepy Floyd

49.1

1987-05-10

vs. LAL

51/3/10/4/0 on ¹⁸⁄₂₆ FG, ¹⁵⁄₁₇ FT with 3 turnovers

Responsible-Still839 | POR

3 | 8 hours ago

That was one of the best games I have ever watched; from both teams. Just amazing basketball.

nowhathappenedwas | NBA

27 | 8 hours ago

The 13th greatest performance of all time

Worth noting that Wilt would dominate the list.

Jordan tops the list at 64.6.

Wilt’s 100 point game dwarfs that with a 76.8 score – and that’s giving Wilt 0 offensive rebounds, 0 blocks, and 0 steals because none of those stats were recorded back then.

Coldsnowyandmisty

-2 | 4 hours ago

If Jordan or many other greats wanted to go for records with their teams supporting them, they could and would get astronomical gamescores.

Wilt’s record is impressive but him and his team went for that record. I’m glad that it doesnt have a official recording because i don’t want the record book to feel like the Guiness book where people aim for them. Bro took 63 shots. SIXTY THREE. Luka scored 73 on half that!

I’m sure Wilt has a lot of authentic records but any record he got while taking as many shots as an entire team.. It don’t mean as much.

I would still count a record genuine if you are having an amazing game and you start aiming to shoot more and increase your points later in the game but 63 shots? That amount of shots suggest you started to aim for a record very early in the game. Or even before the game.

p_pio

6 | 8 hours ago

Tbh Game Score is better metric during to check across the season than eras. It doesn’t normalize in any way. Of course these 2 were also historically great performances.

Cote_Goat

13 | 9 hours ago

Bam #6 💪

RunnerMan033

1 | 6 hours ago

I hope Cade wins a title. Don’t want to hear legacy argument against him he is so good

swizznastic |

1 | an hour ago

The gamescore metric is essentially awful and should be forgotten. But we need big numbers to drive big engagement. How else will we argue luka’s mvp case for the thousandth time in 10 days?

Firm_Order_7573

-1 | 9 hours ago

Ironically enough, both of them came against me in fantasy which is also funny

OpeDefinitely | IND

-6 | 9 hours ago

I saw a clip of a Cade turnover from last night that got missed by the scorekeeper. If his statline gets revised to account for that, his game falls out of the top 40.

youaregodslover

2 | 9 hours ago

No you didn’t.

OpeDefinitely | IND

6 | 9 hours ago

The play was recorded as an Ayton block at 4:10 left in the 1st quarter. From the broadcast angle, it looked much more like Ayton poked the ball away from Cade during his gather. If so, it would’ve been an Ayton steal (and thus a Cade turnover).

Based on the broadcast angle, it’s probably a candidate for the NBA to change. They have a week-or-so to make the stat-sheet change. But maybe other angles show something different.

youaregodslover

2 | 8 hours ago

Oh yeah, I know exactly the play you’re talking about. Besides the fact that Cade had already gathered and was going up with the ball, officially making it a block and missed FG instead of a TO, Ayton literally made contact across both of Cade’s arms and the genuine correct call there would have been a foul anyway.

Cade doesn’t complain much, but if you find the replay again, listen for the “YOU DON’T SEE THAT SHIT RIGHT THERE?!” he yells right after at the ref who should’ve had a good view of the foul.

Neptune28

1 | 8 hours ago

Is there even consistency on what counts as a turnover? The last game, Podz threw a pass to Horford, who then didn’t have good control over the ball and threw it out of bounds, but Podz was credited with a turnover.

aaron21hardin | MIN

1 | 9 hours ago

If he gathered then it would be a block, since he was already in the act of shooting. This has also historically been called a block, KAJ’s sky hook has been blocked quite a few times, but outside of Wilt all of them were blocked where the ball was stripped going up before he did the shot. Still was counted as a block.

OpeDefinitely | IND

2 | 8 hours ago

Huh, video rulebook seems to confirm. Not very intuitive and I’ve been watching the NBA for decades.

Not even 100% sure from the angle that it was an actual gather VS Cade throwing his hands up after the strip to look for a foul, but from the camera angle we do have it does look like a gather.