Today’s Sportstat: May 17, 2020
Did playing against Michael Jordan motivate Dominique Wilkins to greatness?
Dominique Wilkins is a Hall of Famer, selected in 2006. He averaged 24.8 points per game and was a nine-time All-Star. Based on researching some numbers from his career, he may been one player who when he played against Michael Jordan and the Bulls, really elevated his game when facing basketball’s GOAT.
Jordan played for the Bulls from 1984-95 to 1992-92, and then rejoined the team at the end of the 1994-95 season and retired from the Bulls at the end of the 1997-98 season. During those Jordan-Bulls years, there were 24 times (by 16 different players) when an opposing player tallied 40 or more points in a game versus Jordan’s Bulls. Of those 24 times, Wilkins scored 40+ points against the Bulls five times, most of any rival player.
Here are the players who scored 40 or more points in a regular season game versus the Bulls during the years Jordan played with the team.
Dominique Wilkins, 5 times
Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Bernard King and Reggie Miller, each twice
Adrian Dantley, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Darrell Griffith, Allen Iverson, Jeff Malone, Karl Malone, Moses Malone, Glenn Robinson, Rony Seikaly, Kelly Tripucka, one time each
Wilkins tops the list with the most points scored by a player in a game versus the Bulls with Jordan on the roster. Wilkins scored 57 points in a December 10, 1986 game. Adrian Dantley is second on that list with a 45-point game against the Jordan-led Bulls.
From the 1984-85 season to the 1997-98 season, Wilkins tops the list for most total points scored against the Bulls with 1,492, a 28.7 per game average, also tops on the list. Patrick Ewing was second with 1,154 total points, followed by Isiah Thomas with 1,070 points and Charles Barkley with 1,065 points.
If we look at which opposing players had the most 30-point games versus the Bulls from 1984-85 to 1997-98, again Wilkins tops the list with 23 such games. Barkley and Larry Bird follow Wilkins with 13 games and Ewing had 10.
Only one other opposing player had a 50-point game in a contest with Jordan playing. Kobe Bryant had 55 in a March 28, 2003 game between the L.A. Lakers and Washington Wizards. Jordan was a member of the Wizards and tallied 23 points in that game. Orlando’s Tracy McGrady had 50 points in a March 8, 2002 game against the Wizards, but Jordan did not play in that game due to an injury.
The numbers seem pretty clear… Dominique Wilkins seemed to raise his game to another level when he was on the same court as Jordan. For his career, Wilkins averaged 27 points versus the Bulls in 66 total games, second-most versus any team (he averaged 27.2 points per game against the Kings in 27 contests).
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Today’s Sportstat: May 11, 2020
Inside some numbers from The Last Dance
With little live sports to watch on TV, the next best thing we have these days is “The Last Dance,” the 10-part ESPN documentary on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls of the1990s and their attempt to win their third straight NBA title (for the second time) in Jordan’s and coach Phil Jackson’s last season with the team.
As a person who tends to watch sports (and listen) with a curiosity towards the numbers in the games, I was interested in a couple of segments in the series where some numbers caught my attention. Here are two of them:
- In one episode that focused on Dennis Rodman, there was a trivia stat that was sandwiched during commercials. It mentioned that Rodman held the NBA record for most games played (seven) with 20 or more rebounds and zero points in that game. In fact, he is one of only five players ever to have those stats in a game; the others were Marcus Camby (twice), Reggie Evans, Happy Hairston and Clyde Lee (each once).
It’s one thing to not score a point in a game and have 20+ rebounds, but what about playing in a game where you never put up a shot?
Rodman and Wilt Chamberlain are tied for the NBA record for most rebounds in a regular season game, 18, without taking a shot in that game. There have been 47 times that a player has had 10 or more rebounds in a game and did not take a shot in that contest. Rodman leads this group; he did it nine times in his career. Reggie Evans is second on the list; he did it in five regular season games. Four other players did it two or more times in their careers: Chamberlain, Caldwell Jones, Charles Jones and Alton Lister.
In today’s NBA game where shooting and scoring takes precedence, it’s hard to imagine a player being in a game where he doesn’t fire up at least a couple of shots when he is on the court. Well, Rodman played seven games in his career where he played 30 or more minutes in the game and did not attempt a field goal. That tops the league. Charles Jones did it in five games in his career; Ben Wallace did it four games in his career, and Jason Collins is fourth on the list with three such games.
- In one of the middle episodes, (#5 or #6), a good portion of the episode focused on The Dream Team. Jordan and Dream Team teammate Magic Johnson were shown bantering back and forth about fouls that were (or were not) called in a legendary scrimmage game played by the team. Jordan opined that Magic was always getting the calls in the NBA and had probably never fouled out of a game.
How correct was Jordan?
His comment sent me to the computer to do the research. Of the 12 players on the team, all are in the Basketball Hall of Fame except Christian Laettner. So here’s the question for you: Of the 11 members of the Dream Team who are in the Hall of Fame, which player fouled out of the fewest regular season NBA games in their career?
To refresh your memory, here are the 11 Dream Team members who are in the Hall: Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Chris Mullen, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton.
Well, Michael may have had a point… Magic Johnson fouled out of only five NBA regular season games in his career, the fewest among the 11 Dream Team members in the Hall of Fame.
Here is the list:
Career NBA regular season games fouled out
5-Magic Johnson
10-Chris Mullin
11-Larry Bird
11-Michael Jordan
28-Karl Malone
29-David Robinson
33-Clyde Drexler
35-John Stockton
37-Scottie Pippen
44-Charles Barkley
49-Patrick Ewing
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2015 NBA champion will be a new title face for the league
This year’s NBA champion will be a team that has not won a title this century.
Of the eight teams remaining in this year’s playoffs, the Chicago Bulls last won a title in 1998, the most recent championship of any of the eight teams. In fact, three of the eight (Atlanta, L.A. Clippers and Memphis) have never won a title, and two franchises, Golden State and Washington, last won titles prior to 1980.
Since 2000, the NBA has had six champions: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, L.A. Lakers, Miami and San Antonio. The Lakers, Spurs and Heat have won 12 of those 15 titles since 2000, with the Celtics, Mavs and Pistons each winning one apiece. Those six champions are the fewest of the four major sports; MLB has had nine different franchises win a World Series since 2000, both the NHL and NFL have had 10 different teams win a title since the start of the century.
Of those NBA six teams that have won titles since 2000, three did not make the playoffs this year (Lakers, Pistons and Heat) while the other three (Celtics, Mavs and Spurs) each lost in the first round of the playoffs this year.
Here’s a look at the eight current teams in the NBA playoffs and the last time they made it to their conference title games, they last time they made it to the NBA Finals, and the last year they won an NBA title.
Team…conference finals…NBA Finals…Won title
Atlanta 1970…1961…1958
Chicago 2011…1998…1998
Cleveland 2009…2007…Never
Golden State 1976…1976…1975
Houston 1997…1995…1995
L.A. Clippers Never…Never…Never
Memphis 2013…Never…Never
Washington 1979…1979…1978
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NBA Playoff Triple-Doubles without the turnovers
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published daily focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Rajon Rondo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Miami’s LeBron James missed out on a triple-double yesterday when he fell one assist short of accomplishing this feat; he had 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists.
In the 2012 NBA playoffs, Boston’s Rajon Rondo is the only player to have a triple-double. He had 17 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists on May 4 in Game Two against the Hawks, and then had a second triple-double of the ’12 playoffs when he scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 17 assists in the May 12th contest against the 76ers. With his triple-doubles, however, Rondo had six turnovers in the contest against the Hawks, and had seven turnovers in his game against the 76ers. The Celtics won both games.
Over the past 25 years of the NBA playoffs (1988-2012) only 11 players have had a triple-double with one or no turnovers. Ironically, Rondo was the last player to accomplish this feat. On April 26, 2009, Rondo had 25 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and only one turnover in a playoff loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Following are the players since 1988 who have had a triple-double with one of no turnovers in a playoff game.
Player, Team, (Date) Points-Rebounds-Assists… Turnovers
Dennis Johnson, Boston (5/6/88) 19-10-12… n0 turnovers
Fat Lever, Denver (5/14/88) 11-11-12… n0 turnovers
Charles Barkley, Philadelphia (4-27-91) 22-13-10… one turnover
Magic Johnson, LA Lakers (5/5/91) 21-10-17… n0 turnovers
Charles Barkley, Phoenix (6-16-93) 32-12-10 … one turnover
Baron Davis, Charlotte (4/27/02) 33-14-10… no turnovers
Jason Kidd, NJ Nets (6/5/02) 23-10-10… one turnover
Jason Kidd, NJ Nets (4/28/05) 16-16-13… one turnover
Chris Paul, New Orleans (4/29/08) 24-11-15… n0 turnovers
LeBron James, Cleveland (5/2/08) 27-13-13… one turnover
Rajon Rondo, Boston (4/26/09) 25-11-11… one turnover
Note: Of the 11 instances listed above, seven of those players saw their team win that game.
If we move the criteria to a triple-double with two or fewer turnovers, the list would include 26 games. Here are the players who had the most triple-doubles with two or fewer turnovers in a playoff game from 1988-2012. The last player to accomplish this feat? LeBron James had 37 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and only two turnovers as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in a playoff win against the Chicago Bulls on April 25, 2010.
Playoff triple-doubles (1988-2012) with two or fewer turnovers, Player(s)
4: Jason Kidd
3: Kevin Garnett
2: Charles Barkley, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Rajon Rondo
1: Baron Davis, Steve Francis, Dennis Johnson, Fat Lever, Chris Paul, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton, Chris Webber
Note: Teams were 17-9 in games where a player had a triple-double and two or fewer turnovers.
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SIX STATS you might not know about… the 2010-11 NBA season
Derrick Rose... Image via Wikipedia
“SIX STATS…” is a bonus feature of Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ and is published every Friday.
1. The Dallas Mavericks were a first-time NBA champion last season. They were the third first-time champ in the last 13 years; Miami in 2005-06 and San Antonio in 1998-99.
2. Derrick Rose was the league MVP last year. He became the 16th former Rookie of the Year to eventually win the MVP honor. The others: Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dave Cowens, Bob McAdoo, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan and LeBron James.
3. Steve Nash won his fifth assists title in 2010-11. That ties him with Jason Kidd for fourth most assist titles in league history. John Stockton won nine titles; Bob Cousy, 8, and Oscar Robertson, 6.
4. The Chicago Bulls won the Central Division by 25 games over the Indiana Pacers. It was the third time in four years that a team has won a divisional title by 25 games. The other two: Cleveland in 2008-09 and Boston in 2007-08.
5. Paul Pierce became the 37th player in league history to score 20,000 points. He became the third Boston Celtics player (John Havlicek and Larry Bird) to score all of his 20,000+ points with the Celtics.
6. Another Celtic, Ray Allen passed Reggie Miller for the career lead in three-point shots made, 2,612 (Miller had 2,560). Last season Allen shot .444 from the three-point arc, the best percentage of his 15-year career. He also had his best field goal percentage of his career last year shooting .491 from the field. Allen is a career .399 percentage shooter from the arc; his career three-point percentage at home is .399 and .399 on the road.
Sports Stats 'on Tapp' 