FanPost

A Spur Leaves the Record Book


December 10, 2008 - Wow! That was close! Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points in the third quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves. One more point, and George Gervin's 30-year old NBA record falls by the wayside.

On April 9, 1978, George Gervin set the target. Locked in a duel with high-flying David Thompson for ownership of the NBA scoring title, Gervin needed a big number to claim the points crown: Thompson had scored a Chamberlainesque 73 points earlier in the day. To surpass David Thompson, Gervin would need to score 58 points. Fifty-eight is a tall order for anyone, even the Iceman.

Urged on by his teammates to take every shot, George Gervin nearly did, tallying 53 of the Spurs 74 first-half points despite missing his first six shots. Gervin needed just five points after halftime and got ten, and with it the 1978 NBA scoring championship. Thirty-three of those sixty-three came in the second quarter for a new NBA record for points scored in a quarter. His 33 broke the previous record of 32, established all the way back on...April 9, 1978.

David Thompson's NBA record for points in a quarter lasted just a few hours.

Unfortunately for us Spurs fans, records don't always hold up. Just as Gervin had vanquished Thompson in 1978, in 2015 it was Thompson - Warriors guard Klay Thompson - vanquishing Gervin with a mind-blowing 37 points in the third quarter of Golden State's 25-point win over the Sacramento Kings. Thompson's 37 in the third was fifteen points better than Sacramento's 22! Klay's shooting line in that historic 3rd quarter: 13-13 FG (9-9 3FG) and 2-2 FT. Most people haven't done that shooting alone in their driveway, let alone in an NBA game.

The last time something like this happened was almost exactly nine years before Klay's big night: On January 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant tallied 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. On that day, another Spur lost a scoring distinction: the previous 70+ point game in the NBA happened on April 24, 1994, when David Robinson scored 71 points in a road win against the LA Clippers. David's situation was the reverse of the Iceman's - in a scoring leader duel with Shaquille O'Neal, Robinson's Spurs played the early game that day. Unlike George Gervin, Shaq couldn't manage enough points to overtake Robinson. Then again, Shaq didn't need 58 - he needed 77 to catch the Admiral after Five-oh's 71. (If you're wondering, Shaq scored 32 that day)

Let's not forget Dwight Howard's role in excising a Spurs record-holder. When Tim Duncan had his near-quad in game six of the 2003 NBA Finals (21-20-10-8), he tied an NBA Finals record for blocks in a game with those eight swats. Six years later, while getting pasted by the LA Lakers four games to one, Howard, then of the Magic, blocked nine shots in a game four overtime loss.

Just as Kobe made himself the last 70+ scorer (80+ actually) and pushed Robinson aside, Klay Thompson's 37-point quarter pushed Iceman aside. The good news is that the Spurs are still represented in the record books. David Robinson remains the last player to record a quadruple-double in the NBA, and the record for steals in a game is eleven, by Larry Kenon in 1976. (Kendall Gill tied in 1999) Alvin Robertson set a still-standing record for steals in a season, 301, in the 1985-86 season.

The thing is this. I'm happy for Klay Thompson; he seems to be a decent guy, damn good player. But that 33-point quarter was a unique part of Gervin's legacy. Everything else he ever did, somebody else did too. Hall of Fame? Great. But a lot of people have done that. Four scoring titles? Four other players have done that, and the other four played in the NBA Finals. Until a few days ago, no one else had ever scored more points in a quarter.

If someone comes along and gets a quadruple-double, David Robinson can console himself with memories of 1999 and 2003, and with being the Second Guy. (The First Guy was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the category is "NBA players to win a scoring title, a rebounding title, and a block shots title in a career") Tim Duncan is still the record-holder for blocks in an NBA Finals series and playoff minutes and playoff double-doubles and is one of the few non-Celtics in the Five Rings Club.

George Gervin put the San Antonio Spurs on the map. Hopefully that won't soon be forgotten, if only in the Alamo City.

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