On This Day (Nov. 22)
Notable events from NBA history that occurred on November 22.
Snail’s Pace
On this day in 1950, the Fort Wayne Pistons beat the Minneapolis Lakers 19-18, by far the lowest-scoring game in NBA history:
37 — Pistons 19, Lakers 18 (Nov. 22, 1950)
83 — Capitols 50, Falcons 33 (Nov. 2, 1946)
85 — Celtics 47, Capitols 38 (Jan. 16, 1947)
89 — Capitols 49, Ironmen 40 (Nov. 30, 1946)
90 — Celtics 46, Ironmen 44 (Dec. 2, 1946)
George Mikan was the only Laker to make a shot from the field. He scored 15 of the Lakers’ 18 points (83.3%), the highest such percentage in NBA history:
83.3% — George Mikan, 15 PTS (Nov. 22, 1950)
67.0% — Mikan, 61 PTS (Jan. 20, 1952)
66.4% — Kobe Bryant, 81 PTS (Jan. 22, 2006)
66.2% — Mikan, 51 PTS (Jan. 14, 1950)
64.1% — Devin Booker, 59 PTS (March 25, 2019)
Those around the league were not pleased with the Pistons’ stall tactics:
“[T]hey gave pro basketball a great big black eye in doing it. Many more games like that and we can shut up shop.” — Lakers head coach John Kundla
“It’ll never happen again.” — NBA Commissioner Maurice Podoloff
“It was stinko basketball — and I’m toning down my comment so you can print it.” — Anonymous fan to the The St. Cloud Daily Times
The loss snapped a 30-game home winning streak for the Lakers, at the time the longest such streak in NBA history. It’s still the longest home winning streak in franchise history.
Pettit Perfect
On this day in 1961, the St. Louis Hawks’ Bob Pettit scored 43 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a loss to the Celtics. He made all 19 of his free throws, setting an NBA record for most free throws made in a game without a miss.
Pettit’s mark stood for almost 20 years until Bill Cartwright matched it on Nov. 17, 1981. The record was finally broken on Dec. 8, 1992 by Dominique Wilkins (23-23). The current record of 24 free throws made without a miss is held by James Harden (Dec. 3, 2019). Dirk Nowitzki also made 24 free throws without a miss in a playoff game on May 17, 2011.
Wilt Gonna Wilt
On this day in 1964, the San Francisco Warriors’ Wilt Chamberlain tallied 50 points and 40 rebounds in a loss to the Detroit Pistons. Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to record a 50-point, 40-rebound game. This was the fifth and final such game of his career.
A notoriously poor free throw shooter, Chamberlain made just eight of his 21 attempts in this game (38.1%). This was one of 10 career games in which Chamberlain shot less than 40% on at least 20 free throw attempts, matching the combined total of all other players in NBA history.
Career Night for Tinsley
On this day in 2001, Indiana Pacers’ rookie Jamaal Tinsley dished out a franchise-record 23 assists in a 110-103 win over the Washington Wizards. He also scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, becoming the first (and still only) rookie in NBA history to record a 20-assist triple-double.
Tinsley is one of only 11 players in NBA history to record a 20-assist triple-double (24 instances), and the only player in franchise history to do so.
This marked the end of a four-game stretch in which Tinsley recorded 88 points and 53 assists. The only rookie in NBA history to match or exceed both of those totals over a four-game span is Oscar Robertson.