Chris Paul finished his NBA career with 95 games of 30 or more points. That total includes 77 regular season games and 18 playoff games across 21 seasons, from 2005 to 2026.
Paul is known first as a passer. He retired in February 2026 as a 12-time All-Star with more than 12,500 career assists, second in league history.
Because his game was built around setting up teammates, his big scoring nights often get less attention than they deserve.
This post covers his full 30-point record: the totals, the season-by-season count, the teams he played for, his playoff games, his highest-scoring nights and the opponents he scored the most against.
The Short Answer: 95 Career 30-Point Games
Chris Paul has 95 career 30-point games. Since he is retired, that number is final. Here is how it breaks down:
- Regular season: 77 games out of 1,370 played (5.6%)
- Playoffs: 18 games out of 149 played (12.1%)
- Play-in: 0 games out of 1 played
- Career total: 95 games out of 1,520 played (6.3%)
One detail stands out right away. Paul reached 30 points about twice as often in the playoffs as he did in the regular season. When the games mattered most, he took on a bigger share of the scoring.
For context, he also scored 20 or more points in 546 career games and 40 or more in 10 games.
Chris Paul 30-Point Games by Season
Most of Paul’s 30-point games came early in his career. His two best years were 2007-08 and 2008-09 with the New Orleans Hornets, when he had 16 in each season. A dash in the table means his team did not reach the playoffs that year.
| Season | Team | Regular Season | Playoffs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-06 | Hornets | 0 | – | 0 |
| 2006-07 | Hornets | 4 | – | 4 |
| 2007-08 | Hornets | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| 2008-09 | Hornets | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| 2009-10 | Hornets | 5 | – | 5 |
| 2010-11 | Hornets | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2011-12 | Clippers | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 2012-13 | Clippers | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2013-14 | Clippers | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 2014-15 | Clippers | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| 2015-16 | Clippers | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2016-17 | Clippers | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2017-18 | Rockets | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 2018-19 | Rockets | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019-20 | Thunder | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2020-21 | Suns | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 2021-22 | Suns | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2022-23 | Suns | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023-24 | Warriors | 0 | – | 0 |
| 2024-25 | Spurs | 0 | – | 0 |
| 2025-26 | Clippers | 0 | – | 0 |
| Career | 77 | 18 | 95 |
The 2008-09 season was his peak as a scorer. He averaged 22.8 points per game and topped 30 points 15 times in the regular season, his single-season high. His best year with the Clippers was 2014-15, with 10 total 30-point games.
His last 30-point game came in 2022-23 with Phoenix. He did not reach 30 in any of his final three seasons, when his scoring average fell below 10 points per game.
Chris Paul 30-Point Games by Team
Paul played for seven franchises and scored 30 or more for five of them. Nearly half of his total came in New Orleans.
| Team | Regular Season | Playoffs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) | 37 | 6 | 43 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 28 | 6 | 34 |
| Phoenix Suns | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Houston Rockets | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Golden State Warriors | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In New Orleans, Paul was both the main scorer and the main passer, so his 30-point nights came often. With the Clippers, he shared the load with Blake Griffin but still posted 34 games of 30 or more.
The Phoenix numbers show a different pattern. He had only three 30-point games in the regular season there but five in the playoffs, most of them during the 2021 run to the NBA Finals.
Chris Paul Playoff 30-Point Games
Paul scored 30 or more in 18 playoff games, and his team won 15 of them. He did it against 11 different opponents, with the San Antonio Spurs at the top of the list at four games.
These are the playoff performances that stand out most:
- 35 points vs. Dallas (April 19, 2008): In his first career playoff game, Paul added 10 assists in a 104-92 Hornets win.
- 32 points at Oklahoma City (May 5, 2014): He made 8 of 9 three-pointers in Game 1 of the second round, a 122-105 Clippers win.
- 41 points vs. Utah (May 8, 2018): His Game 5 effort closed out the second-round series for Houston, 112-102.
- 41 points at the Clippers (June 30, 2021): He scored 41 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals to send Phoenix to the NBA Finals.
- 32 points vs. Milwaukee (July 6, 2021): He led the Suns to a 118-105 win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
- 33 points at New Orleans (April 28, 2022): He went 14 for 14 from the field in a series-clinching Game 6 win.
His playoff 30-point games are spread across 10 different postseasons. The 2008 playoffs were his busiest, with four. His last one was the perfect-shooting night against the Pelicans in 2022.
Chris Paul’s Highest-Scoring Games
Paul’s career high is 43 points, and he reached it twice. Both games came with the Hornets:
- 43 points in an overtime win over Memphis on December 7, 2007
- 43 points in a loss at Golden State on April 3, 2009
He scored 40 or more in 10 career games, eight in the regular season and two in the playoffs. Along with the two 43-point games, his other regular season 40-point nights were:
- 42 points in a double-overtime win at Phoenix (February 6, 2008)
- 42 points at Dallas (April 10, 2009)
- 42 points against Golden State with the Clippers (October 31, 2013)
- 41 points in a win at Portland (April 1, 2015)
- 40 points at Memphis (December 26, 2007)
- 40 points in a win at Sacramento (February 26, 2016)
His two playoff 40-point games were the 41-point nights against Utah in 2018 and the Clippers in 2021.
The Teams He Scored 30 Against Most
Paul scored 30 or more against 27 different franchises. The Dallas Mavericks top the list by a wide margin, with 12 games (10 in the regular season and two in the playoffs).
| Opponent | 30-Point Games |
|---|---|
| Dallas Mavericks | 12 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 8 |
| Golden State Warriors | 7 |
| Denver Nuggets | 6 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 6 |
All five teams play in the Western Conference, where Paul spent his entire career. He faced them more often, which helps explain why they lead the list.
Why a Star Like Chris Paul Has Fewer 30-Point Games
For a player of his standing, 95 is a modest total. The main reason is his style. Paul averaged 16.8 points and 9.2 assists per game over his regular season career. He looked for the best shot for the team, not the most shots for himself.
His roles also changed over time. In Houston he shared the backcourt with James Harden, and in Phoenix with Devin Booker. Both were high-volume scorers, so Paul often did not need to score 30 for his team to win.
He was still a steady scorer. Reaching 20 points in 546 games shows he could score whenever the matchup called for it. He just chose his spots.
Final Thoughts
Chris Paul ends his career with 95 games of 30 or more points: 77 in the regular season and 18 in the playoffs. Most of them came during his early years in New Orleans, and his rate doubled in the postseason.
The number is smaller than those of pure scorers, and that fits who he was. Paul’s first choice was almost always the pass. Still, his 30-point games show a point guard who could carry the scoring load when his team needed it, especially in the playoffs.
