Sunday, April 27, 2008

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

(Boulder-CO) Today's date is April 27th , and on this day (and yesterday's date):
April 26, 1972 The Knicks’ Bill Bradley sank 11 of 12 field goal attempts as New York defeated Los Angeles 114-92 in the opening game of the NBA Finals. It was the Knicks’ only win of the series, however, as the Lakers went on to take the title in five games.

April 26, 1984 The New Jersey Nets surprised the highly favored defending champion Philadelphia 76ers in the First Round of the 1984 NBA Playoffs, winning the deciding Game 5 by a 101-98 score at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. It remains the only playoff series victory in New Jersey’s NBA playoff history.

April 26, 1985 Mark Eaton of Utah blocked a playoff record 10 shots in a 96-94 loss to Houston, a record that would be matched by Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 29, 1990.

April 26, 1988 The NBA added a third referee to the league’s officiating crews for the 1988-89 season.

April 27, 1950 Arnold “Red” Auerbach, 32 years old and a veteran of three seasons of coaching with the Washington Capitols and one with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, was named coach of the Boston Celtics. He would go on to coach nine NBA championship teams in Boston.

April 27, 1983 San Antonio guard Johnny Moore handed out 20 assists, at the time a Playoff record, in the Spurs’ 126-109 win over Denver. Magic Johnson and John Stockton now share the record of 24.

April 27, 1984 Isiah Thomas and Bernard King engaged in a great playoff shoot-out in Game 5 of the 1984 Eastern Conference First Round playoff series won by New York 127-123 in overtime. King scored 12 of his game-high 44 points in the final 5:12 of the fourth quarter but Thomas stole his thunder by tallying Detroit’s final 14 points in a span of just 1:34 to send the game into overtime where each star had four points. “Sometimes Zeke is magical—you saw it tonight,” Pistons Coach Chuck Daly said of Thomas.

April 27, 1994 The NBA Board of Governors granted a franchise to a Vancouver group headed by Vancouver Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths The Vancouver Grizzlies became the NBA’s 29th franchise, and second located in Canada, joining the Toronto Raptors in entering the league for the 1995-96 season. The franchise moved to Memphis prior to the 2001-02 season.
April 27, 1998 San Antonio's Tim Duncan is named the Schick Rookie of the Year after receiving 113 of a possible 116 votes. Duncan, the first selection in the 1997 NBA Draft, averaged 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.51 blocked shots, while shooting .549 (706-for-1,287) from the field in 39.1 minutes per game.

April 27, 2000 NBA announced that a team representing the NBA’s new developmental league would be one of six teams competing in the 2000 Asian Basketball Association League. The team, called the NBA Ambassadors, would be one of two squads based in Hong Kong slated to compete in a six-week competition (June 8-July 13) against teams from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Enjoy your day!

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