Today's Date in NBA History

(Boulder-CO) Today's date is March 9th, and on this day:

'58- George "The Bird" Yardley of the Detroit Pistons became the first NBA player to score 2,000 points in a single season.

'60- The Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 148-128 at Boston Garden, giving the Celtics their 59th win of the season, topping the previous NBA high for wins in a season by seven. The Celtics also set NBA records during that 1959-60 season for the most field goals made per game (49.9) and field goal attempted per game (119.6) and the most rebounds per game (71.5). All three records still stand more than 40 years later.

'79- Detroit’s Kevin Porter handed out a franchise-record 25 assists as the Pistons defeated Boston 160-117 at the Pontiac Silverdome. Porter finished the 1978-79 season with 1,099 (13.4 apg) assists, becoming the first player in NBA history to garner over 1,000 assists in a season.
March 9, 1985 Fat Lever of the Denver Nuggets set an NBA record for steals in one quarter when he notched eight vs. the Indiana Pacers.

'88- Los Angeles Lakers Coach Pat Riley recorded his 400th career victory in a 104-99 win over the Knicks in New York, reaching the 400 victory plateau faster (540 games) than any other coach in NBA history.

'97- Utah’s Karl Malone became the fifth player in NBA history with 25,000 points and 10,000 rebounds during a 115-106vicotry at Minnesota.

'99- Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon blocks career shot No. 3,500 in game against Denver. He finishes the game with 3,503 career blocks and is the NBA’s all-time leader in blocked shots, an official statistic beginning with the 1973-74 season.

'00- Wilt Chamberlain, who played one season with the Harlem Globetrotters before moving to the NBA, has his No. 13 retired by the Globetrotters when they play at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Chamberlain's alma mater. Chamberlain, who is the first Globetrotter to have his number retired, is one of five people with Globetrotters ties to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The four others are William "Pop" Gates, Connie Hawkins, Marques Haynes, and founder Abe Saperstein.

Enjoy your day!