Will Bynum’s 26-point fourth quarter against the Bobcats broke the Pistons’ record for points in a quarter. The previous record, 24, was held by Isiah Thomas and Jerry Stackhouse.
But Thomas once scored 25 in a single quarter of a playoff game. Bynum’s 26 was one more points, but Thomas’s 25 was more impressive for a few reasons.
1. He did it in the NBA Finals
2. He did it in the third quarter and didn’t benefit from the opponent intentionally fouling him and sending him to the free throw line like Bynum.
3. And he hurt his ankle severely during the quarter.
Lakers guard Magic Johnson, Thomas’ longtime friend, added: “I think he was just unconscious. I think he said, ‘Okay, I’m going to take this game over.’ I’ve seen him do that before. He was in his rhythm. When he starts skipping and hopping, that means he’s in his rhythm. That means he’s ready.”
Here’s video, in three parts, of what might be the most impressive quarter by an individual in NBA history.
Before Antonio McDyess had 21 points and 22 rebound against the Knicks on Wednesday, the Pistons hadn’t had a 20-20 game in 11 seasons.
Bison Dele had 26 points and 20 rebounds in a loss to the SuperSonics on Dec. 5, 1997. But his effort didn’t seem to have a huge impact on the game, judging by Seattle forward Detlef Schrempf’s postgame comments to The Seattle Times.
“We played well today,” Schrempf said. “We played aggressive.
We controlled the boards, and we played good defense. We showed good offense for most of the game. We had some great stops on defense and finished it with rebounding. That’s what we didn’t do the last game, so it’s definitely better than last game.
Besides the 20-20 performance and the Pistons losing, both games had a few other similarities.
The Pistons’ small forward was excellent. Tayshaun Prince had 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks Wednesday. Grant Hill had 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks against Seattle.
Detroit’s opponent had a 30-point scorer. Nate Robinson scored 30 for the Knicks, and Vin Baker had 31 for Seattle.
The Pistons’ bench was torched by the opponent’s. New York’s outscored Detroit’s, 49-12. And the SuperSonics won the reserve battle, 26-3.
This is the first post in a new feature on Piston Powered. These posts will detail an interesting moment in Pistons history. Sometimes they will be relevant to current events. But often, as is the case here, they won’t be.
Before the Pistons and Nuggets squared off on Dec. 13, 1983, Detroit coach Chuck Daly told Denver coach Doug Moe “First one to 140 wins,” according to the Denver Post.
Daly had good reason to believe the game would be a shootout. Both teams ranked near the bottom of the league in defensive stats. But Daly would couldn’t have guess how high-scoring the game would be.
186-184!
That was the banner headline in the Denver Post the day after the Pistons’ won, in triple overtime, what’s still the NBA’s highest-scoring game.
The Pistons and Nuggets set six records in the game.
Most points by a team: Detroit’s 186
Most combined points : 370 – Detroit’s 186 and Denver’s 184
Most field goals by a team: Detroit’s 74
Most field goals combined: 142 – Detroit’s 74 and Denver’s 68
Most assists: 93 – Detroit’s 47 and Denver’s 46
Most players with 40 points: four – Detroit’s Isiah Thomas (47) and John Long (41) and Denver’s Kiki Vandeweghe (51) and Alex English (47)
And the teams combined to take just four 3-pointers (two made). Maybe Larry Brown was right.
The day after the game, a Denver Post columnist named Woodrow Paige Jr. joked the NBA should fine Moe again for a lack of defense. A few weeks earlier, Moe told his Nuggets not to guard the Trail Blazers in the last minute of a clear loss. Portland made five layups in that final minute en route to 156 points, and the league fined Moe. More Paige humor:
“The Nuggets have been known to give away hamburger coupons in the past if the club scored a certain number of points. As a result of Tuesday night’s score, they should give away entire cows.”
The Boston Globe ran an editorial saying the Celtics, who previously held the scoring record, still had a rightful claim to the record. Boston scored 173 against the Minneapolis Lakers in regulation in 1959.
“The men in green did it the right way – in the time allotted for a regular league game – and until another team reaches 174 points in 48 minutes, the record is theirs alone, no ifs, ands, buts or asterisks.”
The Celtics didn’t hold onto the record, but the Pistons and Nuggets took some punishment from the three-hour and 11-minute game. Detroit forward Kelly Tripucka told The Miami Herald:
“Both teams deserve a week off.”
And their schedules nearly provided it. The Pistons had three days off before losing to Boston, and Denver lost to Portland three days later.
The Pistons finished the season 49-33 and lost in the first round to the Knicks. Denver (38-44) didn’t make the playoffs.
Images of the official box scores are available via pistons.com.
