As of the beginning of the 2017-2018 season, what was the highest point total ever in an NBA game?

On December 13, 1983, the visiting Detroit Pistons managed to squeak past the Denver Nuggets in triple-overtime by the score of 186-184 to set the single-game points record. Other single-game records were 142 field goals by both teams, 93 assists by both teams, 74 field goals by one team, and four players with more than 40 points. Denver’s Kiki Vandeweghe tallied a game-high 51.

In NBA basketball, the standard field goal earns two points. Depending on circumstances, a player who is fouled is awarded one or two “free throws”, each one worth a single point if it goes into the basket. A field goal thrown into the basket from beyond the three-point line nets three points. A player who handles the ball immediately before a field goal is scored receives an assist; assists are not reflected on the scoreboard, but are recorded and tracked.

The game consists of four 12-minute quarters. The time-clock runs when the ball is in play, and not during time-outs and other pauses. If the game is tied at the end of “regulation” play, the teams play five-minute “overtime” periods until a winner is determined.

In the highest-scoring regulation-length NBA game, the Golden State Warriors bested the Denver Nuggets 162-158, for 320 total points. Overall, the 300-point barrier has been breached 11 times in the NBA. In one of those games, played on March 2, 1962, the Philadelphia Warriors defeated the New York Knicks 169-147 as Wilt Chamberlain scored a record 100 points.