The most blocks by a player in an NBA game

On Oct. 28, 1973, the Forum witnessed one of the greatest individual defensive performances in NBA history as Lakers center Elmore Smith recorded a record 17 blocks in a 111-98 win over the Trail Blazers. Smith, a 7-footer nicknamed “The Rejector,” played 48 minutes in the win and added 12 points and 16 rebounds for a triple-double.
Smith’s 17 swats remain the most by a player in an NBA game dating back to 1973-74, when blocks were first fully recorded. In that season, from Oct. 26 to Nov. 4, Smith tallied 14 or more rejections in three games. Since then, only three other players have hit 14 blocks in a single outing: Shaquille O’Neal, Manute Bol and Mark Eaton.
Elmore Smith:
17 blocks (Lakers vs. Trail Blazers, Oct. 28, 1973)
Manute Bol:
15 blocks (Wizards vs. Hawks, Jan. 25, 1986)
Manute Bol:
15 blocks (Wizards vs. Pacers, Feb. 26, 1987)
Shaquille O’Neal:
15 blocks (Magic at Nets, Nov. 20, 1993)
Elmore Smith:
14 blocks (Lakers vs. Pistons, Oct. 26, 1973)
Elmore Smith:
14 blocks (Lakers vs. Rockets, Nov. 4, 1973)
Mark Eaton:
14 blocks (Jazz vs. Trail Blazers, Jan. 18, 1985)
Mark Eaton:
14 blocks (Jazz vs. Spurs, Feb. 18, 1989)
Since 2000, the most individual blocks recorded in an NBA game is 12 — a mark achieved by three different players: Keon Clark, JaVale McGee and Hassan Whiteside. Meanwhile, six players — including Whiteside — have notched exactly 11 blocks in a game since the turn of the century.
Keon Clark:
12 blocks (Raptors vs. Hawks, March 23, 2001)
JaVale McGee:
12 blocks (Wizards at Bulls, March 15, 2011)

Hassan Whiteside:
12 blocks (Heat at Bulls, Jan. 25, 2015)
Dikembe Mutombo:
11 blocks (Hawks vs. Nets, Feb. 15, 2000)
Marcus Camby:
11 blocks (Nuggets vs. Jazz, Jan. 17, 2008)
Roy Hibbert:
11 blocks (Pacers vs. Hornets, Nov. 21, 2012)
Serge Ibaka:
11 blocks (Thunder vs. Nuggets, Feb. 19, 2012)
Joakim Noah:
11 blocks (Bulls vs. 76ers, Feb. 28, 2013)
Hassan Whiteside:
11 blocks (Heat at Nuggets, Jan. 15, 2016)
Nobody has ever recorded more than 10 blocks in a single Playoff game, but three players have hit the double-digit mark — Eaton, Hakeem Olajuwon and Andrew Bynum — leaving them tied for the postseason record.
Mark Eaton:
10 blocks (Jazz vs. Rockets, April 26, 1985)
Hakeem Olajuwon:
10 blocks (Houston at Lakers, April 29, 1990)
Andrew Bynum:
10 blocks (Lakers vs. Nuggets, April 29, 2012)
Additionally, 11 players have notched nine blocks in a single Playoff game, including Olajuwon (1993), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1977), Alonzo Mourning (2000), Tim Duncan (2007) and Dwight Howard (2009, 2010). Howard’s nine blocks in 2009 came in Game 4 of the NBA Finals and remains the Finals record entering the 2024-25 season.