Today’s Sportstat: December 7, 2019
A big scoring night on your birthday in the NBA
Trivia question: Can you name the only NBA player to ever score 60 or more points in a regular season game on his birthday? (Answer in the article.)
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrated his 25th birthday last night with 27 points and the Bucks won their 14th straight game with a lopsided win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Giannis became the fourth player this season in the league to score 25 or more points in a game on their birthday. The other three this season:
Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota, 36 points on 11-15-19
Eric Paschell, Golden State, 34 points on 11-4-19
Devin Booker, Phoenix, 31 points on 10-30-19
While Giannis tallied 27 on his 25th birthday, his effort on his birthday falls a little short of the most epic scoring nights on a birthday. Shaquille O’Neal holds the NBA record for most points in a regular season game on a birthday with 61. He accomplished this feat on March 6, 2000, his 28th birthday.
There have been six players who have scored 45 or more points in a regular season NBA game on their birthdays:
Shaquille O’Neal, 61 points on 3-6-2000
Dominique Wilkins, 53 points on 1-2-87
LeBron James, 48 points on 12-30-2009
Anthony Davis, 46 points on 3-11-2017
Michael Jordan, 46 points on 2-17-92
Neil Johnston, 45 points on 2-4-55
In case you were wondering, Kevin Garnett holds the mark for most points in a playoff game on a birthday with 32. He did it on his 28th birthday in a playoff game on May 19, 2004.
The most amazing scoring-on-your-birthday story in the playoffs belongs to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. KAJ had 31 points in a playoff game three times on his birthday… on his 24th, 25th and 31st birthdays.
Two others players tallied 30 or more points in a playoffs game on their birthdays: George Gervin did it twice with 31 points on April 27, 1982 and then with 30 points the following year in a playoff contest in 1983 on his birthday. Isiah Thomas had 30 points in a playoff game on his birthday, April 30, 1988.
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Today’s Sports Stat: March 12, 2018
New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis celebrated his 25th birthday yesterday by collecting his first triple-double in the NBA. He had 25 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocks in his team’s loss to Utah.
In the games leading up to his 25th birthday, Davis accumulated 9,125 points and 4,044 career rebounds. His 9,125 career points before his 25th birthday are the seventh most in NBA history. LeBron James tops this category with 13,927 career points.
Following are the Top 10 players in most career points before the age of 25.
LeBron James, 13,927
Kevin Durant, 12,258
Carmelo Anthony, 10,768
Kobe Bryant, 10,658
Tracy McGrady, 10,420
Shaquille O’Neal, 9,208
Anthony Davis, 9,125
Bob McAdoo, 8,960
Dwight Howard, 8,936
Gilbert Arenas, 8,445
Davis also became only the fourth player in NBA history to reach 8,000 career points and 4,000 career rebounds before the age of 25. The others: Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett.
Davis and Garnett are the only two players in NBA history to have 8,000 points, 4,000 rebounds, 700 assists, 500 steals and 500 blocked shots before their 25th birthday.
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Today’s Sports Stat: February 12, 2018
Portland’s Damian Lillard scored 50 points against the Sacramento Kings on February 9 in the Trailblazers’ 118-100 win over the Kings. It was the 10th time this season that a player tallied 50 or more points in an NBA game.
For the Kings, it was the first time an opposing player had 50 or more points in a game against them since April 1, 2015 when Houston’s James Harden had 51.
It’s interesting to note that one franchise, the Brooklyn Nets, has not had an opposing player score 50 or more points against them in a regular season game in almost 20 years! Shaquille O’Neal is the last player to score 50 against the Nets; he had exactly 50 in a game as a member of the L.A. Lakers on April 2, 1998 when the Nets were in New Jersey.
Here’s a look at the last regular season each of the 30 NBA franchises had an opposing player score 50 or more points against them.
1997-98: Brooklyn (New Jersey Nets)
2005-06: Atlanta, Cleveland
2007-08: Memphis
2008-09: Minnesota
2011-12: Oklahoma City
2013-14: Houston
2014-15: San Antonio
2015-16: Dallas, Detroit, New Orleans, Toronto
2016-17: Boston, Charlotte, Denver, Indiana, Miami, N.Y. Knicks, Philadelphia, Phoenix
2017-18: Chicago, Golden State, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers, Milwaukee, Orlando, Portland, Sacramento, Utah, Washington
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NBA Finals: Thunder’s Durant, Westbrook join legendary duos with Game 1 scoring outburst
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published daily that focuses on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook not only outscored the whole Miami Heat team by themselves in the second half of Tuesday’s Game 1 win, but the high-scoring duo from Oklahoma City also joined an elite group of teammates that have scored 27 or more points in an NBA Finals game.
Durant had 36 points and Westbrook had 27 making them the first teammates in eight years to both score 27 or more points in an NBA Finals game. The last duo to accomplish this feat were the Lakers Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal on June 8, 2004.
Miami’s LeBron James had 30 points in last night’s game, making it the first NBA Finals game since the June 8, 2004 game mentioned above that three players scored 27 or more points. (Detroit’s Chauncey Billups had 27 points in the Pistons loss to the Lakers in that game.) Three players scored 27+ in an NBA Finals game eight times since 1986.
Going back to 1986, there have been 17 sets of teammates that scored 27 or more points in a NBA Finals game. The last set of teammates to score 27+ in a finals game and their team lose was in 1998 when the Bulls Toni Kukoc (30) and Michael Jordan (28) lost to Utah.
Following are the teammates that scored 27 or more points in an NBA Finals game since 1986.
Date, Team, teammates with 27+ points
June 12, 2012: Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant (36), Russell Westbrook (27)
June 8, 2004: L.A. Lakers, Kobe Bryant (33), Shaquille O’Neal (29)
June 9, 2002: L.A. Lakers, Kobe Bryant (36), Shaquille O’Neal (35)
June 10, 2001: L.A. Lakers, Kobe Bryant (32), Shaquille O’Neal (30)
June 8, 2001: L.A. Lakers, Kobe Bryant (31), Shaquille O’Neal (28)
June 14, 2000: L.A. Lakers, Shaquille O’Neal 36, Kobe Bryant (28)
June 12, 1998: Chicago, Toni Kukoc (30), Michael Jordan (28)
June 10, 1998: Chicago, Michael Jordan (34), Scottie Pippen (28)
June 1, 1997: Chicago, Michael Jordan (31), Scottie Pippen (27)
June 9, 1995: Orlando, Shaquille O’Neal (33), Penny Hardaway (32)
June 9, 1995: Houston, Hakeem Olajuwon (34), Sam Cassell (31)
June 9, 1993: Chicago, Michael Jordan (31), Scottie Pippen (27)
June 12, 1991: Chicago, Scottie Pippen (32), Michael Jordan (30)
June 12, 1990: Portland, Clyde Drexler (34), Jerome Kersey (33)
June 7, 1987: L.A. Lakers, Magic Johnson (32), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (27)
June 2, 1987: L.A. Lakers, James Worthy (33), Magic Johnson (29)
June 8, 1986: Boston, Larry Bird (29), Kevin McHale (29)
Did you know? The last time two sets of teammates scored 27+ in an NBA Finals game was June 9, 1995 when Orlando’s O’Neal (33) and Hardaway (32) lost to the Rockets Olajuwon (34) and Cassell (31).
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Can Minnesota’s Kevin Love become the NBA’s newest ’26-13′ player?
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love and the team decide how to deal with his “mild concussion” and if he will return for the remainder of this season, his stats for this year sit at 26.0 points per game and 13.3 rebounds per contest. Should Love and the team decide that he will sit out the remainder of this season, Love will end the campaign as only the fourth player in the last 30 years to average 26+ points per game with 13+ rebounds per game.
In NBA history, there have been 40 times when a player averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds per game. The last to do so was Shaquille O’Neal in the 1999-2000 season when he averaged 29.7 points per game and 13.6 rebounds per contest.
Here’s a quick look at the last five occasions when a player ended the year with a “26-13” season.
Player, year, points per game/rebounds per game
Shaquille O’Neal, 1999-2000, 29.7/13.6
Shaquille O’Neal, 1993-94, 29.3/13.2
Hakeem Olajuwon, 1992-93, 26.1/13.0
Moses Malone, 1981-82, 31.1/14.7
Moses Malone, 1980-81, 27.8/14.8
If Love ends the year with a “26-13” season, he will become the 13th player in NBA history to accomplish this feat. Wilt Chamberlain tops the list with eight “26-13” seasons.
Here’s the 12 players who had at least one “26-13” season in their NBA career.
Player, “26-13” NBA seasons
Wilt Chamberlain…..8
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar…..7
Bob Pettit…..6
Elgin Baylor…..4
Walt Bellamy…..3
Elvin Hayes…..3
Bob McAdoo…..2
Moses Malone…..2
Shaquille O’Neal…..2
George Mikan…..1
Billy Cunningham…..1
Hakeem Olajuwon…..1
Did you know? Here’s another interesting fact about Kevin Love’s 2011-2012 season. If he ends the year averaging over 13 rebounds per game, he will become only the fourth player in NBA history to average 13+ rebounds and make over 100 three-point shots. First to accomplish this mark was Shawn Marion of the Phoenix Suns in 2004-05 when he made 144 three-points shots to go with 11.3 rebounds per game. Antawn Jamison with Washington in 2007-08 made 120 threes along with averaging 10.2 rebounds per game. The last player to accomplish this feat was Indiana’s Troy Murphy, who did it in two consecutive seasons, 2008-09 (161 and 11.8) and 2009-10 (128 and 10.2).
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