11. 55-point game vs. Hornets in 2003
Allen Iverson opened the 2003 playoffs in emphatic fashion, dropping a playoff career-high 55 points on the hapless New Orleans Hornets. It was the best statistical performance of his playoff career, leading the Sixers to an impressive 98-90 victory.
He was once again efficient in his demolition, shooting 21-for-32 and hitting three triples. He also dropped eight dimes, using his scoring gravity to set up teammates in a thorough offensive performance. Iverson scored or assisted on every first-quarter basket to start the game.
While the Sixers didn’t live up to expectations following Iverson’s MVP season, he was still the diminutive dynamo few teams had an answer for. The Sixers wound up losing in the second round to Detroit, but Iverson’s 55-point outing remains memorable to this day.
At the time, Iverson was one of only six players in NBA history to score 55 or more points in a postseason game, joining Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Berry.
"“When I’m out there on the basketball court in front of 20,000 people and I’m making shots and they’re jumping up and cheering, that’s where I get the goose bumps from because I know when these people leave this arena it might be something they cherish for the rest of their life. They might remember the name Allen Iverson for the rest of their life, from doing something that thrilled them.” — NBC Sports Philadelphia"
Iverson will go down as one of the best scorers in NBA history. Games like this one — where his teammates struggled to produce — cement his legacy. His firepower alone led the Sixers to countless victories. That’s rare.