On This Day (Feb. 9)
On This Day (Feb. 9)
Notable events from NBA history that occurred on February 9.
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Historic Efficiency for Wilt
On this day in 1969, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Wilt Chamberlain scored 66 points and grabbed 27 rebounds in a 134-116 win over the Phoenix Suns. Chamberlain made 29 of his 35 shots from the field, the highest field goal percentage ever recorded in a 60-point game:
82.9% — Wilt Chamberlain (Feb. 9, 1969)
80.8% — Karl Malone (Jan. 27, 1990)
75.0% — Chamberlain (Dec. 16, 1967)
73.7% — David Thompson (April 9, 1978)
73.0% — Chamberlain (March 9, 1961)
Chamberlain set a franchise single-game record with his 29 fields goals made, a mark that still stands.
This is one of 32 games in NBA history in which a player recorded at least 60 points and 20 rebounds. Chamberlain is responsible for 28 of them. No other player has recorded more than one such game.
Fast 50 for Lillard
On this day in 2018, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard scored 50 points despite playing only 29 minutes of a 118-100 win over the Sacramento Kings. Lillard is one of only four players in NBA history to record a 50-point game while playing fewer than 30 minutes (a total of five instances):
27 — Klay Thompson (Oct. 29, 2018)
27 — Joel Embiid (Jan. 19, 2022)
29 — Thompson (Dec. 5, 2016)
29 — CJ McCollum (Jan. 31, 2018)
29 — Damian Lillard (Feb. 9, 2018)
Lillard shot 16-26 from the field — including 8-13 from 3-point range — and made all 10 of his free throws. He also recorded six assists and three steals.
Tiny Achievement
On this day in 1973, the Kansas City-Omaha Kings’ Nate “Tiny” Archibald scored 37 points and dished out 20 assists in a 121-116 win over the Houston Rockets. Archibald is one of only four players in NBA history to record at least 35 points and 20 assists in a game, and one of only two to do so multiple times:
Oscar Robertson (3 times)
Nate Archibald (2 times)
Kevin Johnson
Russell Westbrook
Archibald made 14 of his 24 shots from the field and nine of his 10 free throws. It was one of 52 games that season in which Archibald made at least 10 field goals and assisted on 10 others, by far the most such games in a single season in NBA history.
Malone Sets Franchise Mark
On this day in 1979, the Houston Rockets’ Moses Malone scored 33 points and grabbed a career-high and franchise-record 37 rebounds in a 106-99 win over the New Orleans Jazz. Malone became just the second player in franchise history to record a 30-point, 30-rebound game, joining Elvin Hayes (Dec. 5, 1970).
There have been seven 30-point, 30-rebound games since the ABA-NBA merger. Malone is the only player in that span to record multiple such games. His second came on Feb. 11, 1982 versus the Seattle SuperSonics.
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Marc Stein, “Recommended by Marc Stein”