<P> The highest - scoring regular season game is the triple - overtime game between the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets on December 13, 1983 . The two teams combined to score 370 points, with the Pistons defeating the Nuggets 186--184 . An NBA - record four players scored over 40 points in the game, including the Nuggets' Kiki Vandeweghe with a game - high 51 . The two teams also set several other NBA records, including the most points scored by one team (186 points), the most points scored by a losing team (184), the most field goals by two teams (142), most field goals by one team (74) and most assists by two teams (93). </P> <P> The highest - scoring regular season game in regulation was between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets on November 2, 1990 . In that game, Golden State defeated Denver 162--158 . The Warriors' Chris Mullin scored a game - high 38 points . The Nuggets were coached by Doug Moe from 1980 to 1990 and Paul Westhead from 1990 to 1992, both of whom employed a run and gun offensive strategy, which focuses on attempting a high number of field goals while also conceding a large number of points on defense . In fact, Moe's and Westhead's Nuggets were participants in five of the ten highest - scoring regular season games in NBA history . The Warriors were coached by Don Nelson from 1988 to 1995 and 2006 to 2010 . He employed Nellie Ball, a style of run and gun that uses smaller, more athletic players to outrun opponents . Another notable high scoring regular season game is a March 2, 1962 game between the Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks . In that game, the Warriors' Wilt Chamberlain scored an NBA - record 100 points . </P> <P> The highest - scoring playoff game is the double - overtime game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns on May 11, 1992 . The two teams combined to score 304 points, with the Trail Blazers defeating the Suns 153--151 . The Suns' Kevin Johnson scored a game - high 35 points, with 12 other players also scoring in double figures . The highest - scoring playoff game in regulation occurred when the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets with a score of 152--133 for a combined score of 285 points on April 26, 1983 . In that game, the Spurs' George Gervin scored a game - high 42 points . </P> <P> Most of the highest - scoring games happened before the 1995--96 season, when the average scoring (points per game) per team was always in the 100s . Since that season, the average has dropped down to the 90s . Only two post-1995 games make the top - ten lists of both the regular season and playoffs: a May 10, 2003 game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings and a December 7, 2006 game between the Phoenix Suns and New Jersey Nets . Both the Mavericks and the Suns were coached by Nelson and Mike D'Antoni respectively, both of whom also made use of the run and gun style . </P>

Most team points in a nba playoff game