How difficult is it to score 40+ in the finals? Only 6 players in the NBA did it, James was not the first with 51 points

With the 2025 NBA Finals coming soon, a team is destined to break the decades-long championship drought this season. If the Pacers can win the championship, it will become the first championship trophy in their team's history. In this round of series, it is very important to seize the lead, so G1 may directly pull the whole state as soon as it comes up. In this way, fans may also have the chance to see another star who can score 40+ in the finals G1 game. However, before this, only 6 players in the NBA have achieved this feat, among which James has performed this performance many times, and he scored 51 points in the 2018 Finals G1. But it is worth mentioning that this is still not the single-game scoring record of players in the history of G1 in the Finals!

6. Kobe (1 time)

The 2009 Finals against Magic G1 scored 40 points

Since the OK combination disintegrated in 2004, the Lakers have fallen into silence. After the first round of the game in a row, Kobe applied for a transaction in 2007. Fortunately, Bass himself came forward to keep him. After that, the Lakers made a series of reinforcements, which allowed the team to return to the championship ranks. The Lakers reached the finals again in the 2007-2008 season, but in the end facing the Celtics, even though Kobe averaged 25.7 points per game, the Lakers still failed to win this round of the series.

Fortunately, the Lakers reached the finals for the second consecutive time in 2009. This time, they successfully defeated their opponents in the Magic and won the championship trophy again after 7 years. In this round of series, Kobe averaged 32.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game, so he deservedly won the FMVP. In those four games, Kobe G1 even broke his single-game scoring record in the finals. At that time, he made 16 of 34 shots and scored 40 points, and also had 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. The Lakers also won the Magic 100-75 to start the series.

5. George McCann (1 time)

The 1949 Finals against Washington Congress team scored 42 points

. George McCann, known as the first superstar in NBA history, led the Lakers to win the championship many times in his seven-year NBA career, and he also performed many outstanding performances during this period. For example, when he led the team to the finals for the first time in 1949, he played a strong dominance against the Washington Congress. In the entire series, McCann averaged 27.5 points per game, of which G1 was his best performance. At that time, he made 14 of 21 shots and scored 42 points, using this, the Lakers defeated their opponent 88-84, and finally won the championship with a big score of 4-2.

4. Iverson (1 time)

The 2001 Finals scored 48 points against Lakers G1, 2000-2001 season, Iverson was the strongest form of his own. He won the scoring champion + MVP in the regular season, and he still maintained a big kill in the playoffs. In the series against the Raptors, Iverson scored 50+ twice, and finally, under his leadership, the 76ers successfully reached the finals. In this round of series against the Lakers, no one outside the outside world was optimistic about the 76ers. After all, the Lakers had no defeat in the playoffs at that time, so many people predicted that they would continue to win the cup successfully by sweeping.

However, it is obvious that Iverson did not let the Lakers and their fans do what they want. He ushered in a big explosion in the G1 away game in the finals. Iverson made 18 of 41 shots and 9 of 9 free throws. He scored 48 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. In his career debut in the finals, he can be said to have performed nearly perfectly. Under the leadership of Iverson, the 76ers also defeated the Lakers in G1, but the overall strength gap between the two sides is still relatively large. Later, the Lakers still won four consecutive games and won the championship.

3. O'Neal (2 times)

2000 Finals scored 43 points against the Pacers G1

2001 Finals scored 44 points against the 76ers G1

Since transferring to the Lakers in 1996, the outside world has higher expectations for O'Neal, but he has not been able to succeed in the previous few seasons. It was not until the 1999-2000 season that O'Neal once again ushered in evolution. He averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3 blocks per game in the regular season, and he also won the scoring champion + MVP. O'Neal, who started a stronger mode in the playoffs, also helped the Lakers pass the mark and reach the finals. In the end, he entered an unstoppable state. As soon as the finals began, he scored 43 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Later, under his leadership, the Lakers also successfully defeated their opponents and won the championship. After winning the championship in 2000, O'Neal and the Lakers then launched an attack on the defending title. As can be seen from their 2001 playoff record (15 wins and 1 loss) that they have even become stronger this season. The Lakers only lost the finals G1 game in the entire playoffs, but O'Neal also tried his best in this game. He made 17 of 28 shots and scored 44 points, 20 rebounds and 5 assists.

2. James (2 times)

2015 Finals scored 44 points against the Warriors G1

2018 Finals scored 51 points against the Warriors G1

In 2014, James returned to the Cavaliers. His arrival quickly transformed the team into a championship team. In this way, they reached the finals again after many years of joining forces again, and it was a result that the third giant Love had reimbursed the season early. In the finals, James changed his strategy. He started to fire and made 18 of 38 shots, scoring 44 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. However, because the second leader Irving also left the game due to injury, the Cavaliers finally lost the game. And they were short of soldiers and failed to win the championship.. After losing in 2015, James led the Cavaliers to several finals, and in 2016 they also successfully won the championship. But by the 2017-2018 season, the Cavaliers were on the verge of collapse. In order to maintain the team's competitiveness, James played one of his best performances in his career, especially in the playoffs, he averaged 34 points, 9.1 rebounds and 9 assists per game. In the finals, James scored a 51-pointer in G1, a career-high of 51 points in his playoffs, but even so, they failed to win the game, and the Cavaliers were helpless to lose to the Warriors again.

1. Jerry West (2 times)

In the 1966 Finals, he scored 41 points against the Celtics G1

In the 1969 Finals, he scored 53 points against the Celtics G1

In 1966, under the leadership of West, the Lakers reached the finals again. He scored 41 points in the first game against the Celtics, so the Lakers also took the lead in getting a good start. The Celtics won three games in a row to force the Lakers to the edge of the cliff. West contributed 31+8+5 and 32+3+7 respectively in the next two games. The Lakers were also lucky to drag the series into tiebreak. However, West scored 36 points and 10 rebounds in the last game, but the team still lost the game, so they missed the opportunity to make history.

In 1969, the Lakers and the Celtics met again in the finals. This time, West still had a big explosion. He made 21 of 41 shots in the game and scored 53 points and 10 assists. Then, he scored 41 points and 8 assists in G2, and the Lakers also successfully rewrite the big score to 2-0. Unfortunately, even so, the Lakers still failed to seize this opportunity. They were dragged into the tiebreak by the Celtics later, and G7 West scored 42+13+12 data but failed to win.