Highest Scoring BAA/NBA/ABA Games

[Robert Bradley]

does anyone have any additions to this list?

13Dec83 - DET 186, DEN 184 [3OT] - Denver, CO - 370 points
14Feb75 - SDQ 176, NYN 166 [4OT] - San Diego, CA - 342 points
6Mar82 - SAS 171, MIL 166 [3OT] - San Antonio, TX - 337 points
2Nov90 - GSW 162, DEN 158 - Denver, CO - 320 points
7Dec06 - PHO 161, NJN 157 [3OT] - East Rutherford, NJ - 318 points
11Jan84 - DEN 163, SAS 155 - Denver, CO - 318 points
2Mar62 - NYK 169, NYK 147 - Hershey, PA - 316 points
12Mar70 - CIN 165, SDR 151 - Cincinnati, OH - 316 points
10Nov90 - PHO 173, DEN 143 - Phoenix, AZ - 316 points
27Feb59 - BOS 173, MPL 139 - Boston, MA - 312 points

a couple of notes -

- the 1990 suns/nuggets game was suns 107, nuggets 67 at halftime. the 107 points in a half, 57 points in a quarter and 173 points in a non-overtime game are all NBA records.
- the league checked into the results of the 1959 celtics/lakers game to make sure there were no shenannigans going on.
- julius erving scored 63 points in the 1975 conquistadors/nets game.

[Robert Bradley]

since the shot clock was added in 1954-55, here are the NBA/ABA scoring record for 3OT - 5OT games

most points, both teams
5OT - 309 points - 9Nov89 - MIL 155, SEA 154
4OT - 342 points - 14Feb75 - SDQ 176, NYN 166
3OT - 370 points - 13Dec83 - DET 186, DEN 184

fewest points, both teams
5OT - 309 points - 9Nov89 - MIL 155, SEA 154
4OT - 249 points - 19Feb82 - ATL 127, SEA 122
3OT - 197 points - 9Jan01 - CHH 102, CHI 95

most points, team
5OT - 155 points - 9Nov89 - MIL 155, SEA 154
4OT - 176 points - 14Feb75 - SDQ 176, NYN 166
3OT - 186 points - 13Dec83 - DET 186, DEN 184

fewest points, team
5OT - 154 points - 9Nov89 - MIL 155, SEA 154
4OT - 122 points - 19Feb82 - ATL 127, SEA 122
3OT - 95 points - 9Jan01 - CHH 102, CHI 95

[Mike Goodman]

That 173 point outburst by the Suns in Nov. of 1990 came against the Nuggets. Coming into the game, 5 Enver opponents had averaged over 148 points; the no-D team would lose it's first 7 games, while giving up 154 PPG.
They ended up with merely 131 ppg scored against them for the year, winning 20 games.

The Suns' 3 highest scoring games of the year were all against the Nuggets: 173, 153, and 142 points.
Here's the boxscore of the 173-143 game.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 00PHO.html

Ced Ceballos came off the bench with 32 points in 23 minutes for Phx, 12-15 FG
KJ had 23 pts and 17 ast, Majerle had 21 and 13, and the team's 50 assists is also a franchise all-time high.

[Robert Bradley]

i believe the nuggets were out-rebounded that game something like 53-28.

[D.Highmore]

There's a more detailed look at the defensive atrocity that was the '91 Nuggets here: http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2007/07/from-vaults-worst-defensive-team-ever.html

[rlee]

http://m.rockymountainnews.com/news/200 ... erved-hot/


Tomasson: In magical game, Skiles served hot dishes

Published December 30, 2005 at midnight

Paul Westhead has taken over as coach of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, ready to make an impact on the record book. He already has done that in the NBA.

But not exactly in a good way.

Westhead's 1990-91 Denver Nuggets will live in infamy. They gave up an NBA-record 130.8 points a game, once allowing Phoenix to score a league-record 107 points in a half. And they once let a journeyman point guard look like Bob Cousy and Magic Johnson rolled into one.

It was 15 years ago today Scott Skiles of the Orlando Magic took advantage of Westhead's wackiness to hand out a record 30 assists. In a 155-116 road loss, the Nuggets moved wildly up and down court, firing shots, then watched the Magic take the ball the other way.

"They literally just pushed it up, made one pass and shot it,'' said Skiles, now the coach of the Chicago Bulls. "They shot with 18 (seconds) on the shot clock and they missed that night. So there were a lot of long rebounds, a lot of fast breaks.''

And a lot of assists.

With 6 minutes, 57 seconds to play on Dec. 30, 1990, at Orlando Arena, Skiles fed Jerry Reynolds for a dunk for his 29th assist. That tied the NBA record that was set by Kevin Porter of the New Jersey Nets on Feb. 24, 1978.

The public-address announcer let it be known what Skiles had accomplished. But apparently Reynolds, who scored a game-most 27 points and was the beneficiary of many of Skiles' assists, wasn't listening.

As the game wound down, Skiles often fed Reynolds for open jumpers, only to watch Reynolds drive to the hoop, nullifying the chance of an assist. Then, in the waning seconds, Reynolds held the ball, preparing to run out the clock.

"Reynolds had the ball and he wasn't going to shoot, and the crowd yelled, 'Shoot. Shoot. Shoot,' " said Pat Williams, then Orlando's president and general manager and now the team's senior vice president.

Reynolds finally figured it out. He drilled a 22-footer with 19.6 seconds to play and the record belonged to Skiles.

Skiles remains an unlikely holder of a rather significant NBA record. He played for five teams in 10 seasons, averaging 6.5 assists and never appearing in an All-Star Game.

"In the history of basketball, if you wondered who would do that, I don't think he would have gotten many votes,'' Williams said. "But everything came together that evening. It was a magical evening down in the Magic land. . . . It was basketball the old-fashioned way. Rip it and run.''

The Magic took a 23-point halftime lead and spent the rest of the game extending it. Early in the fourth quarter, Skiles told Magic coach Matt Guokas he wanted to take a seat for the night.

Guokas would have none of it. He wanted the Magic, a second-year franchise on its way to finishing 31-51, to get into the record book.

"I remember they were announcing his totals as the game was going on,'' said Joe Wolf, the starting center that night on a Nuggets team that finished 20-62. "It was one of those nights where everything was clicking for him.''

Skiles had 14 assists in the first half and 16 in the second while also scoring 22 points in 44 minutes. Orlando had eight players score in double figures, all forgettable with the exception of Skiles, Dennis Scott and Nick Anderson.

"It sticks with me,'' Skiles said. "My teammates have to take most of the credit. If they're not making shots, I could be making Bob Cousy passes all over the place and it wouldn't be anything.''

Because the pace of NBA games has slowed so much, Williams calls it is a record that might never be broken. He went so far as to compare it with Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points on March 2, 1962.

Skiles, though, disagrees.

"Maybe if Westhead comes back into the league, maybe somebody could do it,'' he said.

[Robert Bradley]

i listened to that suns/nuggets game on the radio. if i had known better i would have gone. how often are you going to see a spectacle like that?

[Mike Goodman]

i believe the nuggets were out-rebounded that game something like 53-28.

In the link above, you find it was just a 53-47 disparity.
The Nuggets had 28 defensive rebounds.
Their 19 offensive boards is rather a lot, but they missed 71 shots.

Suns' Kenny Battle off the bench with 23 pts, 10 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl; in just 26 minutes.
! - One of only 2 players since 1985 to accomplish the feat -- off the bench -- the other being Clyde Drexler, in 36 min.
http://bkref.com/tiny/SYYMY

Also (20-10-5-5) done in the fewest minutes of anyone, starter or sub, season or playoffs, in 27 years.
http://bkref.com/tiny/MPwrb

[Mike Goodman]

Were the 1991 Nuggets really the worst defensive team of all time?
They remain the fastest-paced team since 1978 at least, running 113.7 possessions per game.
At 130.8 points allowed per 113.7 possessions, they gave up 1.147 points per possession.
This puts them in a virtual 3-way tie with the '93 Mavs and the '09 Kings.

Those '93 Mavs are generally considered to be the worst team ever, by average point differential. They gave up 114.4 Pts/G, and their 99.5 poss/G Pace was 5th highest that year.

The '09 Kings surrendered but 109.3 Pts/G, but in only 94.3 Poss/G -- 7th in the league.

League-wide pts/poss was almost identical in all 3 cases, so ranking relative to league doesn't seem to break the tie.
It's still perhaps true the '91 Nuggs were the worst D to that time; and since then, a couple of contenders.

[John Grasso]

27Feb59 - BOS 173, MPL 139 - Boston, MA - 312 points


- the league checked into the results of the 1959 celtics/lakers game to make sure there were no shenanigans going on.

This game was interesting on several accounts.
1 - Bill Russell did not play. Afterwards he said "That was the best game I played all year - no mistakes". Frank Ramsey with 13 and Gene Conley with 11 led Boston in rebounding.
2 - Bob Cousy set league records with 28 assists for the game, 12 for the last period and 19 for the second half. He also scored 31.
3 - Ben Swain fouled out with a few minutes to go in the first half.
4 - Red Auerbach's comment after the game "We've had many 40-point quarters before. We just happened to have
four of them in one game."
5 - I believe the game was a Friday afternoon game, but I haven't been able to verify it yet. I remember reading about it in that evening's newspaper.
5 -Only Tom Heinsohn,with 43, and Gene Conley, with 14, had season highs in that game and neither were career highs.
6 - Even though 139 points was the season high for the Lakers, none of their players had season highs in that game.
7 - League records set in the game were -
Most points in a game (173) by one team,
Most points in a game (312) by two teams,
Most points in a game (139) by a losing team,
Most points in a half (90) by a team,
Most points in a half (165) by two teams,
Most points in a quarter (52) by a team,
Most points in a quarter (96) by two teams,
Most assists in a game (28) by a player,
Most field goal attempts in a game (143) by a team,
Most field goal attempts in a game (257) by two teams,
Most field goals made in a game (72) by a team,
Most field goals made in a game (119) by two teams.
8 - The Lowell (Mass.) Sun's writeup of the game included this line: "While nobody could have learned much about
defense while watching the six-points-a-minute game, there wasn't anything for 'Pumpernickel' Podoloff to be
suspicious about. Both clubs were red-hot and trigger-happy." (Imagine today's newspapers referring to the NBA's
commissioner in terms like that - there'd by law suits aplenty.)

[rlee]

Podoloff's two nicknames: "Poodles" & "Pumpernickel"

[todd_spehr35]

I'm quite certain Denver game up 194 points in a preseason game to Atlanta that year. Played in Pueblo or CO Springs, just forget now.

[rlee]

Westhead Shrugs Off 194-166 Loss
October 19, 1990
DENVER — When Paul Westhead coached Loyola Marymount, his team was known for setting NCAA scoring records. Now, his Denver Nuggets are becoming renowned for records set by their opponents.

An example was the Nuggets` 194-166 exhibition loss to the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night at Pueblo, Colo.

The 194 points are believed to be the most ever scored in an NBA game, preseason or regular season. And Atlanta`s 116 points in the second half, including 64 in the fourth quarter, marked the first time any NBA team had ever scored more than 100 in a half.

The Hawks` rout followed losses to Phoenix (186-123) and to Houston

(156-126). The Suns` 186 points matched the NBA record for points in a regular-season game.

Despite the carnage, Westhead is not worried.

``What you`re seeing is very predictable,`` he said. ``I know that the system I put in is very difficult. Our guys are going so hard at both ends, and all of a sudden they crack. But before they crack, they produce a lot of good stuff. They`re just not able to sustain it at this time.``

Hawks coach Bob Weiss seemed stunned by his team`s second-half effort.

``Never in my wildest dreams . . . `` he said.

``It`s a unique style. They`re a very difficult team to defend. We did give up 166 points.``

[Robert Bradley]

DENVER NUGGETS 1990 PRESEASON SCORES

11Oct90 - PHX 186, DEN 123 - Tempe, AZ
13Oct90 - HOU 156, DEN 126 - Biloxi, MS
17Oct90 - ATL 194, DEN 166 - Pueblo, CO
19Oct90 - BOS 173, DEN 155 - Denver, CO
22Oct90 - DEN 156, NYK 145 - Fort Collins, CO
24Oct90 - BOS 158, DEN 135 - Boston, MA
26Oct90 - ATL 160, DEN 152 - Atlanta, GA
28Oct90 - DEN 138, DAL 137 - Fort Worth, TX

[todd_spehr35]

In that 19OCT90 BOS/DEN preseason game, Bird needed 19 first half minutes to record 12 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. He finished with 16-21-13 in I'm guessing limited minutes. I wonder what other individual statistic gems came about that preseason.

[todd_spehr35]

Bird had another "halftime triple double" five days later against Denver in Boston. Finished with 21-13-15.

[gorba77]

170+ Points - single team (preseason may be incomplete):

196 West-East , 02/14/2016 , NBA All-Star Game , (196-173)
194 Atlanta-Denver , 10/17/1990 , NBA Preseason , (194-166)

186 Detroit-Denver , 12/13/1983 , NBA Regular Season , (186-184) 3OT
186 Phoenix-Denver , 10/11/1990 , NBA Preseason , (186-123)
184 Denver-Detroit , 12/13/1983 , NBA Regular Season , (184-186) 3OT

177 Indiana-Pittsburgh , 04/12/1970 , ABA Regular Season , (177-135)
176 San Diego-New York Nets , 02/14/1975 , ABA Regular Season , (176-166) 4OT
173 Boston-Minneapolis , 02/27/1959 , NBA Regular Season , (173-139)
173 Boston-Denver , 10/19/1990 , NBA Preseason , (173-155)
173 Phoenix-Denver , 11/10/1990 , NBA Regular Season , (173-143)
173 East-West , 02/14/2016 , NBA All-Star Game , (173-196)
172 Indiana-Los Angeles , 02/01/1969 , ABA Regular Season , (172-141)
171 San Antonio-Milwaukee , 03/06/1982 , NBA Regular Season , (171-166) 3OT