5 players with most 40-point games in losses in the NBA Finals 

Nikola Jokic scored an efficient 41 points to go with his 11 rebounds and four assists in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday. His monster performance didn't prove to be enough as the Denver Nuggets lost 108-111 to the Miami Heat.

This was the 28th instance of a player scoring at least 40 points in a loss in the NBA Finals. The two earliest instances occurred in the 1961 NBA Finals between the St. Louis Hawks and Boston Celtics. In a series in which the Celtics beat the Hawks in five games, Cliff Hagan and Bob Pettit of the Hawks put up 40 points in Game 2 and Game 5 respectively.

Here are the players who have the most 40-point performances in finals games which their team lost.

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#3(tie), Michael Jordan, two games

Michael Jordan: 2021 NBA Finals, Game 6

Michael Jordan famously has a 6-0 record in the NBA Finals. But even he was not immune to an occasional stinker from his teammates ruining a great individual night for him.

Both of these games came during the 1993 NBA Finals in which his Chicago Bulls faced the Phoenix Suns led by reigning MVP Charles Barkley. Jordan scored 44 points in Game 3 in a triple overtime loss. Five days later, he scored 41 points in a Game 5 loss.

Sandwiched between these two was a 55-point performance in Game 4. Combined with the 42 points he put up in Game 2, this was the greatest four-game scoring stretch in the NBA Finals. The Bulls beat the Suns in six games to win their third straight title.

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#3 (tie), Devin Booker, two games

2021 NBA Finals, Game g

Devin Booker's first playoff run resulted in an NBA Finals appearance where his Phoenix Suns took on the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021. The Suns took a 2-0 series lead only to lose the next four and the series.

But too much blame can't be put on Booker. He followed up his 42-point performance in Game 4 with 40 points in Game 5, both of which the Suns lost by less than six points.

Had his teammates stepped up, Booker and the Suns might have a ring by now.

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#3 (tie), Rick Barry, two games

Rick Barry

In his second year in the league, Rick Barry and fellow all-star Nate Thurmond carried the San Francisco Warriors to the 1967 NBA Finals. In the only finals that decade which did not feature Bill Russell's Boston Celtics, the Warriors lost in six games to Wilt Chamberlain's Philadelphia 76ers.

After falling down 0-2 to start the series, Barry put up 55 points to will his team to a six-point win in Game 3. He followed with 43 points in Game 4, 36 points in Game 5 and 44 points in Game 6. But Barry's heroics could not save the Warriors as they lost games 4 and 6 despite his 40-point outbursts.

Barry averaged 40.8 points per game in the series, which remained an NBA Finals record until it was broken by Michael Jordan in 1993.

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#2, Jerry West, four games

Jerry West

Despite being one of the best players of the 1960s, an NBA title had eluded Jerry West. But it was through no fault of his own. Nicknamed "Mr. Clutch," West certainly lived up to that name by always performing his best at the highest stage.

All four of Jerry West's 40-point games in NBA Finals losses came against the Boston Celtics. And his LA Lakers lost each of those series.

The first one was a 45-point performance in Game 3 in 1965, a series they lost in five games. In Game 4 the next year, West again put up 45 points, but his team lost by five points. In what was a hard-fought, seven-game series, had the Lakers won this game, they might have finally managed to get over the hump.

The most heartbreaking of these four were the last two, both of which were in the 1969 NBA Finals.

Leading 2-1 in the series, West scored 40 points in Game 4 in a one-point loss. The Lakers and Celtics split the next two games, and the series returned to LA, with the Lakers having an opportunity to put away the Celtics in a Game 7 on their home court.

In arguably the greatest closeout game performance in the NBA Finals, West balled out. He posted the first triple-double in a Game 7 of the NBA Finals, scoring 42 points to go with 13 rebounds and 12 assists. But his team fell short by two points to hand the Boston Celtics their last title of the Bill Russell era.

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#1, LeBron James, five games

LeBron James

When it comes to great performances in the NBA Finals being ruined by his teammates underperforming, nobody has been more unlucky than "The King."

The first two of these five came in the 2015 NBA Finals.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers missing two of their best players in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, James had to carry the bulk of the scoring load. And he did exactly that. Despite his 44 points in Game 1 and a 40-point triple double in Game 5, his team couldn't eke out wins. They ended up losing in six games to the Golden State Warriors, but James earned plaudits for his individual performance.

Two years later, with his team trailing 3-1 in the series, James scored 41 points to go with 11 rebounds and eight assists. But this didn't prove to be enough against one of the greatest teams of all time as the Cavaliers lost the game and the series.

The most infamous of James' 40-point games in a losing cause in the NBA Finals happened in Game 1 in 2018. James was unstoppable, scoring at will. His 51 points that night remains the record for most points scored in a loss in the NBA Finals. Cavaliers fans will always wonder what might have been had J.R. Smith not run the clock out.

James' last such performance came in Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals where the LA Lakers faced the Miami Heat. His 40 points in Game 5 didn't prove to be enough as Jimmy Butler willed his team to a three-point win with a 35-point triple double of his own to extend the series. The Lakers ended up closing out the series in the next game, however, as James won his fourth title.