Top 5 all-time Madison Square Garden scorers

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Top 5 of the top scorers at Madison Square Garden throughout history

The players who scored the most points in the "Mecca of Basketball"

"Madison Square Garden" in New York is considered the most famous hall in the world. This is a place where legends are born and which has shown us a number of incredible games that are part of the history of the National Basketball Association. This place has hosted a number of presidents, a pope, as well as tons of celebrities who are New York Knicks fans. The local team that plays in this place has delighted the thousands in the stands with its performance.

Of course, as far as the NBA goes, there are some legendary performances in this hall. It was at Madison Square Garden that Steph Curry hit 11 of 13 three-pointers to finish the night with 54 points. But then, on February 27th, the Knicks were better and won 109:105, even though Curry scored over 50% of the visitors' points. LeBron James and Michael Jordan are the only ones to score 50 or more points at least twice in the place where the hall is currently located. But we're going to focus on the top five hitters at Madison Square Garden of all time.

If the most dominant basketball player of the Knicks in the 80s is Patrick Ewing, then the team's best scorer is Bernard King, who is not accidentally included in our ranking. The wing scored 60 points on Christmas Day 1984. King shot 19-of-30 from the field and hit a then-record 22 free throws. Despite his remarkable performance, the Knicks lost to the Nets 114 to 120. A few weeks later, King scored 55 points for his team in another loss to New Jersey, this time 117 to 126.

The fourth position is shared between two players who scored 61 points each in this hall. These are Kobe Bryant and James Harden. "The Beard" reached his career high in January 2019, leading his Houston Rockets to a 114:110 victory over the New York Knicks. A horrendous shooting of just 20% from the three, or 5 out of 20 attempts, prevents him from even surpassing the leading scorer. Ten years earlier, on February 2, 2009, Kobe surpassed Bernard King's record for that spot in the hall, after scoring 61 points, remaining only 12 away from the leading scorer of a visiting team in the "Mecca of basketball' of all time. The Mamba was 19-of-31, with 3 assists and 1 rebound to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 126-117 victory over the Knicks.

In the new history of the hall, to the joy of the home fans, the most successful is Carmelo Anthony, who played for the Knicks between 2011 and 2017. In January 2014, he scored 62 points to break Kobe's record from 5 years ago. Although Melo finished without an assist, he did not commit a single error against the Charlotte Bobcats and brought his team a 125-96 victory. This is helped by 13 rebounds, which form his double-double in the game. It is important to note that Anthony has mostly been on the bench in the last quarter, otherwise it would be no wonder he would have crossed the 70 mark as opposing players had no answer to his performance.

At number two we also find the second highest scoring guest at Madison Square Garden of all time. He, ironically, also comes with the newly relocated Lakers team from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to set a record. Elgin Baylor, who is one of the most underrated players in NBA history, scored 71 points in an incredible 60/61 season. This happened on November 15, 1960, and the "Ezerniaks" won their visit to the city of the big apple with 123:108. Baylor's 25 rebounds, who finished the game with a double-double, were key to this success.

With the most points in the entire history of the hall, however, is Wilt Chamberlain. This is hardly a surprise, as the center is known for scoring huge numbers in quite a few games in his career. Even before Madison Square Garden found itself in its new location, it bettered Elgin Baylor's record by two points. It happened on November 17, 1962, when his San Francisco Warriors won their visit with 127:111, and Chamberlain scored 73 of the points. And that's not all, over the years he also scored 62 points, which tied him for third place with Carmelo Anthony. In the "Mecca of Basketball," Wilt scored 59, twice 58 and once 55 during his remarkable career.