FROM Tuesday’s Hoopster dish, here are more memorable moments in National Basketball Association (NBA) history in the month of October.
October 19, 1961 – Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia (now Golden State) Warriors began a streak of 126 consecutive games with 20 or more points. The streak, which included an all-time league single game record of 100 points against the New York Knickerbockers and a seven-game stretch of 50 or more points every time out, ended on January 19, 1963.
October 21, 1979 – Chicago guard Sam Smith became the first player in NBA history to make a four-point play when he was fouled by Milwaukee’s Brian Winters while hitting a triple with just 25 seconds left in the contest. Smith converted the bonus free throw for the fourth point but the Bucks came out on top, 113-111.
October 22, 1976 – Tom and Dick Van Arsdale played together in a game for the Phoenix Suns, becoming the first set of twin brothers to play for the same NBA club. The Suns lost to the New Orleans (now Utah) Jazz, 111-98. On February 22, 2013, twins Marcus and Markieff Morris played together for the Phoenix Suns (following Marcus’ trade from Houston) to duplicate the feat of the Arsdales. Marcus started alongside Markieff on March 10, 2013 against his former team, the Rockets, making them the first set of twin brothers ever to start for the same NBA club.
October 28, 1973 – The Los Angeles Lakers’ Elmore Smith blocked 17 shots against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers to register an NBA record for most blocks in a regular-season game. The Lakers won, 111-98, as the 7-foot Smith, nicknamed “Elmore the Rejector,” posted a triple-double with his 17 blocks, 12 points and 16 rebounds in 48 minutes of action. The NBA did not officially document stats for blocked shots and steals until the 1973-74 season.
October 29, 1961 – Oscar Robertson dished out a franchise-record 22 assists for the Cincinnati Royals (now Sacramento Kings) in a 139-132 win over the Syracuse Nationals (the predecessors of the Philadelphia 76ers). “The Big O” went on to average a triple-double (30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists in 79 games) for the Royals during the 1961-62 season. NBA Most Valuable Player Russell Westbrook would turn in the same trick with the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2016-17 season when he normed a league-leading 31.6 points, third league-best 10.4 assists and 10th league-leading 10.7 rebounds in 81 appearances.
October 30, 1954 – The NBA adopted the use of the 24-second shot clock and the six team-fouls-per-quarter limit.
October 31, 1950 – Earl Lloyd of the Washington Capitols became the first black person to play in the NBA.
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