Today's Date in NBA History

(Boulder-CO) Today's date is April 19th, and on this day:

'65- Five members of the Boston Celtics scored 20 or more points in a 129-123 victory over Los Angeles in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. This was the first time in Finals history there were five 20-point scorers on one team, a feat that would be matched twice in the 1987 NBA Finals between the same two teams.

'86- Atlanta guard Spud Webb set an NBA rookie record for assists in a playoff game with 18, as the Hawks defeated Detroit 137-125 at the Omni in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference First Round series.

'88- The Philadelphia 76ers honored Julius Erving prior to a home game against the Bucks, retiring his uniform #6 and unveiling a larger-than-life Dr. J statue.

'91- Atlanta’s Moses Malone set an NBA record for playing in the most consecutive games without fouling out in the Hawks’ 126-120 loss to Detroit at the Omni. It was Malone’s 1,046th straight game without a disqualification, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s mark.

'92- Detroit’s Dennis Rodman won his first NBA rebounding title with 1,530 rebounds for an 18.7 rpg average. Those were the highest rebounding marks in the league since the Lakers’ Wilt Chamberlain pulled down 1,572 boards for a 19.2 rpg average during the 1971-72 season. Rodman’s total of 1,530 rebounds represented 42.1 percent of the Pistons’ total of 3,63 1 boards, which is the top individual percentage in NBA history. Rodman went on to lead the NBA in rebounding for seven consecutive seasons, an NBA record.

'92- San Antonio’s David Robinson became only the third player in NBA history, along with Larry Bird (1985-86) and Cliff Hagan (1959-60), to rank among the league’s Top 10 in five different statistical categories. Robinson averaged 23.2 ppg (7th); 12.2 rpg (4th); 55.1% field goal percentage (7th); 2.32 spg (5th); and 4.49 bpg (1st).

'98- Karl Malone finished the season with 2,190 points, an NBA record 11th consecutive season he had reached the 2,000 point plateau.

Enjoy your day!