10 Highest Scoring NBA Games Ever

#6 (tied) Cincinnati Royals 165-151 San Diego Rockets, March 12th 1970

Oscar Robertson (

center

) was the mainstay for that Cincinnati Royals team

The Royals had never had much postseason success despite having the most dynamic guard in the game on their team in Oscar Robertson. They often posted good regular season campaigns, but failed to carry that momentum into the playoffs. The 1969-70 season was the last one played by Oscar for the franchise, and this was the worst record posted by the Royals due to a sub-par supporting cast around the franchise player. They finished 6 wins below the Knicks, and out of the playoff berths.

By the time this game had tipped off, both teams knew they had no chance of making the playoffs. They concentrated, instead, on playing fast basketball and revving up everyone's scoring statistics by a couple of decimal points at the end of the season. As a result, all 5 starters on the Royals ended up scoring over 20 points, with Tom van Ardale and Connie Dierking leading the team with 36 and 34 points each. By the end of the 3rd quarter, the Royals held an 18-point lead over the Rockets, which meant the contest had effectively ended. Hayes top-scored for the game with 40 points of his own.