Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Today's Date in NBA History

(Boulder-CO) Today's date is April 16th, and on this day:
'47- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born in New York on the same day that the opening game of the first NBA Finals was played--with the Philadelphia Warriors defeating the Chicago Stags 84-71 in Game 1. Abdul-Jabbar went on to play in a record 20 seasons with Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Lakers, setting an NBA record for points scored (38,387) and playing on six NBA Championship teams.

'67- Wilt Chamberlain grabbed an NBA Finals record 26 rebounds in one half as Philadelphia defeated San Francisco 126-95 in Game 2. Also, both teams combined for 169 rebounds, tying an NBA Playoffs record.

'83- In the regular season finale for both teams, San Antonio defeated Dallas at Reunion Arena 132-120. By hitting 53-of-75 shots, the Spurs set an NBA record for FG percentage (.707) in a single game.

'91- The Philadelphia 76ers, in a 108-99 loss to New York at Madison Square Garden, set an NBA record for playing in the most overtime games in a season at 14. The Sixers were 8-6 in those OT games.

'93- Following a 113-110 win over visiting Orlando, Cleveland Coach Lenny Wilkens moved into second place on the NBA all-time wins list (trailing only Red Auerbach) with his 865th career victory. Seven weeks later, Wilkens left the Cavaliers to become coach of the Atlanta Hawks, a franchise he began his NBA playing career with when it was located in St. Louis.

'94- Golden State’s Don Nelson became the seventh coach in NBA history to win 800 career games, following the Warriors’ 109-105 triumph over visiting Utah Nelson reached 800 wins in 1,372 games, the second-fastest coach to reach that mark, trailing only Red Auerbach’s 1,227 games.

'96- The Bulls bettered the 1972 Lakers NBA record of 69 wins in one season with their 86-80 victory at Milwaukee. Chicago finished the season with 72 wins and only 10 losses.
Enjoy your day!

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