December 11, 2008 12:30 AM
Anthony provides another night to remember
By Chris Tomasson
Rocky Mountain News
As great of a performance as Carmelo Anthony had Wednesday night, he also brought back some great memories.
The Nuggets forward tied an NBA record by scoring 33 of his 45 points in the third quarter in his Denver's 116-105 win over Minnesota at the Pepsi Center.
Anthony tied the mark set by San Antonio's George Gervin on April 9, 1978 at New Orleans. He also broke the Nuggets team record of 32 set by David Thompson on April 9, 1978 at Detroit.
No, that's not a typo. Anthony's performance brought back memories of one of the greatest days in NBA regular-season history.
On the season's final day, Gervin and Thompson were dueling for the scoring title. Thompson scored 73 points in an afternoon game, including 32 in the first quarter, to take the lead. But Gervin came back that night to win the crown by scoring 63 points, 33 in the second quarter.
Gervin won the closest scoring race in NBA history by an average of 27.22 to 27.15.
Two links between the performances of Gervin and Anthony are Doug Moe and George Karl.
Moe was San Antonio's coach during Gervin's big game. He went on to become Denver's coach, and is now a Nuggets consultant.
Karl then was a Moe assistant. But he wasn't at Gervin's scoring explosion at the Superdome, instead being on the road.
"I was scouting somewhere,'' Karl said. "Doug was going after the record, and (Gervin) knew exactly what he needed to have, and Doug ran every play for him. And that's probably why he got 33. Doug thought he could have gotten a lot more, but, once he got the scoring (title), he said he wanted to come out.''
If you want more memories from that day, the Rocky Mountain News can help. On April 9, 2003, the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of the greatest scoring race in NBA history, the Rocky did a big story on it.
Here it is. Enjoy.
THESE GUYS KNEW THE SCORE
25 YEARS AGO, GERVIN AND THOMPSON WAGED A STIRRING DUEL FOR THE NBA CROWN
By Chris Tomasson
Rocky Mountain News
April 9, 2003
George Gervin was asleep in his New Orleans hotel room when the phone rang.
``Did you hear that David Thompson scored 73 points today?'' a reporter asked a groggy Gervin
Gervin , whose nickname was ``Iceman'' because he was so cool, wasn't rattled in the slightest. He went back to sleep for another hour.
Eventually, on that Sunday afternoon of April 9, 1978, Gervin arose. He dressed and went downstairs to meet his San Antonio Spurs teammates for the bus ride to the Superdome for their game that evening against the New Orleans Jazz.
``The guys were waiting on me, and they asked me if I wanted to get that (scoring) title back,'' Gervin said.
Before Gervin arrived, Spurs coach Doug Moe had met with the other players. With the team already having wrapped up the NBA's Central Division, a plan was agreed upon to keep feeding Gervin the ball that night until he won the scoring title.
Gervin , a 6-foot-7 guard, had gone into the final day of the regular season with a 26.8-point average, just ahead of Thompson at 26.6. Thompson, a 6-4 Denver Nuggets guard, needed to outscore Gervin by 15 points to win the crown.
Playing that day before a sparse crowd of 3,482 in the final NBA game at Detroit's Cobo Hall, Thompson put on a performance for the ages. He scored an NBA-record 32 points in the first period and had totaled 53 by halftime. Thompson slowed down in the second half but finished with 73 points, tied for the third-most in an NBA game and tied for the second-most in a non-overtime game.
Then it was Gervin 's turn. He broke Thompson's record by scoring 33 points in the second quarter and also had piled up 53 by halftime. After that, it was easy. He needed 58 to win the crown but got to 63 before taking the fourth quarter off.
So ended the closest scoring race in NBA history. Gervin finished at 27.22 points a game, Thompson at 27.15.
``That was one of the greatest days in NBA history,'' said Moe, who later coached Thompson in Denver and now serves as a Nuggets consultant. ``David scores 73, which is amazing, and Ice needs 58. Then he puts on one of the most incredible performances I've ever seen.''
Twenty-five years later, that day still is discussed. Before Orlando's Tracy McGrady pulled away in the past month from the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, there was talk the two might end up in a similar final-day showdown.
Gervin and Thompson get together several times a year at fantasy camps, and questions always are asked about their epic scoring duel. At the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia, the two engaged in a three-point shooting contest, which Thompson won by making nine of 12 shots to Gervin 's eight of 12.
``I guess I got a little revenge,'' Thompson said with a laugh.
Gervin and Thompson now are good friends. Twenty-five years ago, the relationship was different.
They weren't chums. But they had admired each other since their days in the American Basketball Association. In 1975-76, the ABA's final season, Gervin was a fourth-year player with the Spurs and Thompson was a Nuggets rookie.
``We had a lot of mutual respect from being in the ABA that one year,'' said Thompson, now a motivational speaker based in Charlotte, N.C. ``In the ABA, you got to know everybody you played against. We only had seven teams in the league, so we played the Spurs (15) times. We weren't the best of friends, but we were real cordial. And when we entered the NBA, ABA guys always pulled together because we often felt slighted.''
There were similarities between Gervin and Thompson after they entered the NBA in 1976. Both played on teams that surprised observers by moving immediately to a place among the league's best. Both put up big scoring numbers and played in the All-Star Game during their inaugural season.
In 1976-77, Thompson averaged 25.9 points to rank fourth in the NBA and Gervin averaged 23.1 to rank ninth. As they headed down the stretch the following season, each was vying for his first pro scoring title.
``To have two ABA players going at it like that in the NBA was kind of neat,'' said Philadelphia coach Larry Brown, who was then Denver's coach.
Gervin held a slight lead on Thompson for much of the season. When the final day arrived, Denver's game started at 11:30 a.m. MST and San Antonio's at 5:30 p.m.
The Nuggets, who finished 48-24, had wrapped up the Midwest Division title, so, like the Spurs, who finished 52-30, they had nothing at stake. But Brown insisted nothing was set up before the game to get Thompson big scoring numbers.
``Every time I tell Doug this, he says it's baloney, but we didn't go out there with any idea that he was going to try to score more than George ,'' said Brown, a longtime friend of Moe, who had been an ABA assistant under Brown. ``He just had an incredible game.''
Thompson said Brown asked him before the game if he wanted the Nuggets to do anything special to get him the scoring title, but he declined. But after his amazing first period, things began to change.
Thompson made his first eight shots and went 13-for-14 in the first quarter. He made all six of his free-throw attempts on his way to breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record of 31 points in a quarter.
``Everything I was throwing up was going in,'' Thompson said. ``After that, the guys pretty much decided behind my back that they were going to try to get me (the scoring title).''
Thompson made an incredible 20 of his first 21 shots and had gone 20-for-23 by halftime. He was wearing out Detroit defenders Al Skinner, Jim Price and M.L. Carr.
``I started out guarding him, and, at first, I was wondering what the heck was going on,'' said Skinner, now Boston College's head coach. ``He was shooting all the time. The referees were calling all these fouls. I said, 'He's going for the scoring title. I'm done guarding him.' I passed him off to Jim Price.''
Price didn't do any better. Thompson made mid-range jumpers with defenders hanging all over him. He made several impressive dunks, including one off a lob that Brown said ``blew my mind.''
``As the game went on, we saw how hot he was,'' said guard Mack Calvin, who played 9 minutes for the Nuggets that day. ``Myself, Ralph Simpson and Dan Issel started really trying to get him the ball. But we weren't really passing up shots, because he was hitting everything.''
Issel recorded 10 assists as the starting center and was Denver's second-leading scorer with a mere 14 points. The way Thompson was playing, there was no need for anyone else to shoot.
As the first half went along, CBS, which days earlier had elected not to televise the game, got wind of what was happening. Network officials arranged to have Thompson interviewed at halftime. But with no suitable cameras at Cobo, CBS could not switch to the action.
The second half started with visions of Thompson challenging Wilt Chamberlain's 1962 record of 100 points in a game. But it soon became evident that wouldn't happen. The Pistons, hardly wanting to end up on the wrong side in the record book, began sending numerous bodies at Thompson.
``The second half was a little tougher,'' Thompson said. ``They were double- and triple-teaming me. It takes a lot of energy to score 53 points in a half. The second half, I got a little tired.''
Thompson managed only 20 more points. In 43 minutes, he shot 28-for-38 from the field and 17-for-20 from the line. Putting only a slight damper on the day, the Pistons came back from a 14-point halftime deficit to win 139-137.
``We thought he'd scored enough points to win the scoring title,'' Calvin said. ``We were all patting him on the back after the game.''
When news of Thompson's huge game reached New Orleans, Moe began to put his plan into action. He asked his players if they wanted to get Gervin the scoring title, and there was universal agreement. Then the plan was revealed to Gervin .
``I would only have agreed to do it if all 11 of my teammates had approved,'' said Gervin , who now works in the Spurs community relations department. ``Fifty-eight points was a hell of a task. But I was confident I could do it.''
If all of Gervin 's teammates had agreed to feed him the ball, it sure didn't look that way at the beginning.
``Before the game, Doug says, 'Guys, we're going to get the ball to Ice every time down the court,' '' said forward Allan Bristow, later a Nuggets assistant coach and general manager who played 20 minutes for the Spurs. ``So the first time down the court, (Larry) Kenon takes a shot. Then the second time down the court, Kenon takes another shot. The third time down the court, (Billy) Paultz takes a shot. So Doug calls timeout and says, 'Guys, I'm telling you, I want Ice to take every shot.' So right after the timeout, Kenon takes another shot, and Doug takes him out and puts me in.''
Bristow followed instructions. He even passed up open layups to get the ball to Gervin .
At first, it didn't appear Gervin would catch Thompson. He missed his first six shots and muttered to his teammates, ``Guys, let's just forget it.'' But then he got rolling.
Gervin finished the first quarter with 20 points. In the second, hitting jumpers with bodies draped over him and driving for his trademark finger rolls, Gervin broke Thompson's hours-old NBA record by scoring 33 points.
``I was just in a zone,'' Gervin said. ``I was like Casper the Friendly Ghost. I was going through guys.''
With Gervin having scored 53 by halftime, the scoring race was all but over. When the Nuggets returned to Denver, Thompson flipped on the radio and heard what Gervin had done in the first half. He immediately turned it off.
The second half at the Superdome was anticlimactic. Gervin quickly got five points to lock up the scoring title. Just in case somebody's math was off, Moe left Gervin in the game to get five more points, bringing his total to 63.
Gervin went to the bench for good late in the third quarter, and the Jazz, which led throughout the game, coasted to a 153-132 win.
`` Gervin put on the greatest show I'd ever seen in my life,'' Moe said. ``They put a box-and-one on him, and they came out in the second half with a triangle-and-two. Two guys were chasing him around, but he was knocking down everything. You couldn't stop him.''
Nevertheless, Gervin did not shoot nearly as well as Thompson. In 33 minutes, he shot 23-for-49 from the field and 17-for-20 from the line.
There was some bitterness among Nuggets players. Forward Bobby Jones believed Gervin 's performance was cheapened because San Antonio's primary focus had been to get him the ball. Considering the Spurs got clobbered by a losing team, winning obviously was secondary.
``The next day, I kind of felt it had been a setup deal,'' said Jones, who played 15 minutes in Thompson's big game. ``David's wasn't. When you shoot the kind of percentage he did, you're not taking any bad shots.''
From Thompson, there was chagrin at finishing second in the scoring race. But he soon got over it.
``I was a little disappointed,'' Thompson said. ``But then I realized there was no shame in losing to a guy like Gervin . And the performance I had was a once-in-lifetime thing. It's something I figured people would be talking about for years to come.''
Unfortunately for Thompson, many of his years to come were not good. Even though, at 23, he was two years younger than Gervin , Thompson's career quickly spiraled downward while Gervin 's flourished.
Thompson developed problems with cocaine abuse. He never again would finish higher than fifth in the scoring race. He was out of the NBA before his 30th birthday after suffering a serious knee injury when a bouncer pushed him down the stairs at New York's Studio 54 nightclub.
Gervin , meanwhile, went on to win three of the next four scoring titles, giving him four for his career. The only players who have won more are Michael Jordan (10) and Chamberlain (seven).
``That first one is the one I cherish the most,'' Gervin said. ``It was a meaningless game, and we had one goal, to get me my first scoring title, and we did. Scoring 33 points in a quarter is a record that has never been broken. It was the greatest scoring race in basketball history. And to win it against a guy like David, who I had been battling for so many years and who I had so much respect for, was special.''
Ever since that scoring duel, Gervin and Thompson have been linked. So it was only fitting they were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on the same day in 1996.
THE SCORING CHASE
The top five finishers in 1977-78, the closest scoring race in NBA history:
NAME, TEAM ....................... G .. PTS. .. AVG.
George Gervin , San Antonio ....... 82 . 2,232 . 27.22
David Thompson, Nuggets .......... 80 . 2,172 . 27.15
Bob McAdoo, New York ............. 79 . 2,097 . 26.54
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers . 62 . 1,600 . 25.80
Calvin Murphy, Houston ........... 76 . 1,949 . 25.64
SCORING MACHINES
The top single-game scoring performances in NBA history:
PLAYER, TEAM DATE OPP. PTS.
01. Wilt Chamberlain, Phila. Mar. 2, 1962 New York 100
02. Wilt Chamberlain, Phila. Dec. 8, 1961 (3 OT) L.A. Lakers 78
03. Wilt Chamberlain, Phila. Jan. 13, 1962 Chicago 73
03. Wilt Chamberlain, S.F. Nov. 16, 1962 New York 73
03. David Thompson, Den. April 9, 1978 Detroit 73
06. Wilt Chamberlain, S.F. Nov. 3, 1962 L.A. Lakers 72
07. Elgin Baylor, L.A. Lakers Nov. 15, 1960 New York 71
07. David Robinson, San Ant. April 24, 1994 L.A. Clippers 71
09. Wilt Chamberlain, S.F. Mar. 10, 1963 Syracuse 70
10. Michael Jordan, Chicago Mar. 28, 1990 (OT) Cleveland 69
24. George Gervin , San Ant. April 9, 1978 New Orleans 63
BOX SCORES FROM THE TWO GAMES
PISTONS 139, NUGGETS 137
........FG....FT....Reb
DENVER ....Min....M-A....M-A....O-T....A....PF....Pts
Jones ....15....2-2....0-0....0-3....0....0....4
Wilkerson ....32....1-8....0-0....0-5....3....5....2
Issel ....32....6-9....2-2....3-9....10....2....14
Thompson....43....28-38....17-20....3-7....2....2....73
Roberts ....34....5-8....2-2....2-5....1....5....12
Ellis R....23....2-4....1-1....1-4....6....2....5
LaGarde ....14....2-5....3-4....0-4....0....3....7
Simpson ....24....4-9....1-1R....1-3....4....2....9
Cook ....4....1-1....0-0....1-3....1....1....2
Calvin ....9....3-4....1-2....0-0....0....1....7
Smith ....10....1-2....0-0....0-1....1....1....2
Totals ....240....55-90....29-32....11-44....11....24....127
Percentages - FG .611, FT .844. Blocked shots - 5 (Ellis 2, Wilkerson, Issel, Thompson). Turnovers - 26 (Wilkerson 5, Issel 4, Thompson 4, Roberts 3, Simpson 3, LaGarde 2, Calvin). Steals - 15 (Jones 4, Wilkerson 3, Roberts 3, Issel 2, Simpson 2, LaGarde). Technicals - None.
........FG....FT....Reb
DETROIT ....Min....M-A....M-A....O-T....A....PF....Pts
Carr ....39....10-18....5-6....4-9....1....2....25
Shumate ....41....8-11....4-4....1-9....1....4....20
Poquete ....23....5-7....1-2....2-5....0....1....11
Toney ....33....11-24....1-1....0-2....4....3....23
Ford ....35....8-14....3-4....1-4....9....3....19
Bostic ....15....4-8....2-5....3-4....0....0....10
Skinner ....30....8-12....11-11....3-5....3....4....27
Price ....24....2-8....0-0....1-2....5....4....4
Totals ....240....55-102....27-33....15-40....40....23....139
Percentages - FG .549, FT .818. Blocked shots - 3 (Schumate 2, Poquette). Turnovers - 17 (Ford 5, Price 3, Carr 3, Bostic 2, Skinner 2, Shumate, Poquete). Steals - 13 (Ford 4, Toney 3, Carr 2, Shumate 2, Price 2). Technicals - None.
Denver 42....41....23....31....-....137
Detroit 36....33....35....35....-....139
A - 3,482. T - 2:02.
JAZZ 153, SPURS 132
........FG....FT....Reb
S.A. ....Min....M-A....M-A....O-T....A....PF....Pts
Dietrick ....31....2-3....2-2....1-3....2....5....6
Kenon ....23....6-8....1-2....2-5....1....0....13
Paultz ....28....3-6....0-0....2-6....2....0....6
Gale ....13....2-3....0-0....0-2....0....4....4
Gervin ....33....23-49....17-20....2-2....1....3....63
Dampier ....12....2-4....0-0....0-0....1....1....4
Green ....16....0-2....0-0....1-3....1....2....0
Olberding ....23....3-4....2-2....0-4....0....2....8
Bristow ....20....3-5....0-0....2-4....4....2....6
Silas ....20....4-6....2-2....0-0....3....0....10
Layton ....21....5-8....2-2....0-0....1....0....12
Totals ....240....53-98....26-30....10-29....23....22....132
Percentages - FG .541, FT .867. Blocked shots - 6 (Dietrick 2, Green 2, Gervin , Olberding). Turnovers - 16 ( Gervin 6, Gale 3, Layton 2, Dampier, Kenon, Paultz, Bristow, Silas). Steals - 13 (Bristow 3, Silas 2, Gervin 2, Gale 2, Dietrick, Kenon, Dampier, Olberding). Technicals - None.
........FG....FT....Reb
N.O. ....Min....M-A....M-A....O-T....A....PF....Pts
Robinson ....44....11-22....2-2....8-20....3....2....24
James ....36....12-23....6-7....3-4....4....5....30
Kelley ....28....9-14....3-5....8-16....6....3....21
Goodrich....38....13-24....0-0....1-2....9....1....26
Bailey ....33....8-12....4-5....4-6....7....5....20
Saunders ....11....1-3....0-0....1-2....8....4....2
Boyd....13....3-4....0-0....0-2....4....0....6
Griffin ....17....5-7....1-2....2-4....3....1....11
Meriwethr ....20....6-9....1-3....2-7....5....1....13
Totals ....240....68-118....17-24....24-34....49....22....153
Blocked shots - 7 (Bailey 2, Meriweather 2, Robinson, James, Kelley). Turnovers - 21 (Robinson 6, James 3, Goodrich 3, Griffin 3, Kelley 2, Bailey 2, Saunders, Meriweather). Steals - 8 (James 2, Saunders 2, Griffin, Meriweather, Robinson, Bailey). Technicals - None.
San Antonio 34....40....20....38....-....132
New Orleans 44....34....32....43....-....153
A - 8,336. T - 1:58.
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