Today's (and Yesterday's) Date in NBA History

(Boulder-CO) Today's date is April 14, and in the last two days in NBA history:

April 13, 1948 The Baltimore Bullets (the original Bullets franchise which folded in 1954), with the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, overcame a 21-point halftime deficit and defeated the host Philadelphia Warriors 66-63 in Game 2.

April 13, 1957 The Boston Celtics claimed the first of their 16 championships as Tom Heinsohn, a 6-7 rookie forward, scored 37 points and grabbed 23 rebounds and Boston beat St. Louis 125-123 in double-overtime in Game 7.

April 13, 1975 Larry McNeill of the KC-Omaha Kings shot 12-for-12 from the field, setting an NBA Playoff record for most field goals without a miss, in a 102-95 win over Chicago in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

April 13, 1986 The Boston Celtics closed out the 1985-86 season with a 135-107 win over New Jersey at Boston Garden. That gave the Celtics a 40-1 record at home, setting records for the most home court wins and the highest home winning percentage (.976) in a season in NBA history.

April 13, 1996 The final two spots on Dream Team III, the team that competed at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, were filled by Phoenix’s Charles Barkley and Sacramento’s Mitch Richmond.

April 13, 1999 Former NBA players Connie Hawkins, Charlie Scott and Dwayne “Pearl” Washington visit Bosnia from April 13-20 to meet with American military personnel stationed in the area. They made several stops within the country, also giving brief instructional clinics and a demonstration of basketball skills.

April 13, 1999 Miami head coach Pat Riley reaches win 939 with a win over the Chicago Bulls. The win moves him into sole possession of third place on the all-time victory list, ahead of legendary Red Auerbach.

April 14, 1962 Elgin Baylor of the Los Angeles Lakers scored an NBA Finals record 61 points in Game 5 at Boston Garden as the Lakers defeated the Celtics 126-121. Baylor’s 22 field goals made set an NBA Finals record that was tied five years later by San Francisco’s Rick Barry.

April 14, 1975 In Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals, Golden State defeated Seattle 123-96. Led by Rick Barry’s then playoff record eight steals, the Warriors set an NBA Playoff record with a total of 22 steals for the game.

April 14, 1976 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers won the fourth of his record six NBA MVP awards, after averaging 27.7 ppg and league-leading totals of 16.9 rpg and 4.12 bpg.

April 14, 1985 Mark Eaton of Utah concluded the 1984-85 season with 456 blocked shots for an average of 5.56 bpg, both NBA records.

April 14, 1992 New Jersey defeated host Miami 105-100, as Nets Coach Bill Fitch established a record for the most games coached in NBA history (passing Dick Motta), with 1,720. Fitch was later passed in total games coached by all-time leader Lenny Wilkens.

April 14, 1994 Seattle became the second NBA team to have 10 different players score in double figures, during a 150-101 win over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers, as Detlef Schrempf led the scoring parade for the Sonics with 21 points. Seattle also had 10 double-figure scorers in a 135-104 win over Portland on March 30, 1980, with Gus Williams notching a team-high 23 points. Phoenix joined the group on November 23, 1994 during a 140-109 triumph over the visiting LA Clippers, as rookie Wesley Person’s 19 points led 10 double-figure scorers for the Suns.

Enjoy your day!