wouldve iceman scored more than 100 and break wilt's record?

[The Big Racist]

The 1977-78 season featured two of the league's most spectacular stars, both future Hall of Famers, in a duel for the scoring crown that came down to the last day-and night-of the season. Denver's David Thompson and San Antonio's George Gervin had been battling it out for the scoring title throughout most of the season, and it all came down to April 9, 1978, when Gervin took a league-leading 26.8 average into the last day of the season, with Thompson second at 26.6.
But on that final afternoon, Thompson came out on fire against the Detroit Pistons and was encouraged to shoot at every opportunity by his teammates. He scored 32 points in the first quarter, an NBA record, and had 53 by halftime. He finished with 73 points, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 for most points ever scored in an NBA game. He was a stunning 28-for-38 from the field and 17-for-20 from the line.

That pushed Thompson's scoring average to 27.15. Gervin, who played that night in New Orleans against the Jazz, knew he needed to score at least 58 points if he wanted to wear the scoring crown.

Gervin, nicknamed the Iceman, was fed the ball on just about every play by his teammates and rarely passed up a shot. He tallied 20 points in the first quarter and then broke Thompson's record with 33 points in the second quarter, giving him 53 at the half. He quickly got six more points and then headed to the bench, knowing the title was his. After a long rest he reentered the game and finished with 63 points, playing 33 minutes to Thompson's 43. He shot 23-for-49 from the field and 17-for 20 from the line.

Gervin finished with an average of 27.22 to Thompson's 27.15 in the closest scoring race in NBA history.

so wouldve iceman break wilt's record (100 points in a single game) if he played more minutes?

i think he had a good shot at it! ya know wilt scored 100 whit 2 or 3 overtimes...

[Andrew]

i think he had a good shot at it! ya know wilt scored 100 whit 2 or 3 overtimes...

I always thought Wilt set the record in regulation.

I don't think the Iceman would necessarily have bettered 100 points had he played more minutes, but I do think that it is possible for someone to equal or beat Wilt's record. I think one of the main reasons it can't be touched is not only that it is an impressive figure, but also such offense from a single player is not encouraged in today's NBA. Players don't really have an opportunity to challenge the record.

[The Big Racist]

oops! sry my mistake he didnt score 100 whit overtimes...he scored is 100th point whit 46 seconds to go in 4th!later he went for the these averages:Chamberlain went on to average an NBA-record 50.4 ppg in the 1961-62 season and became the only player to surpass 4,000 points in one season with 4,029. He also led the league in rebounding with 25.7 rpg and was second in field goal percentage at .506. Amazingly, Chamberlain also averaged 48.5 minutes per game-quite a feat when you consider that an NBA game lasts only 48 minutes. The Warriors played a total of 10 overtime periods in seven games that season, and Chamberlain was on the court for 3,882 of a possible 3,890 minutes. Of the team's 80 games, he went the distance in a record 79 of them.

[Shep]

someones been doing their homework

[The Big Racist]

lol

[Colin]

Where'd you copy and paste that from...

Anyways nice work finding all that stuff, the 48.5 minutes is amazing.

[The Big Racist]

hmm..where i copy and paste...it's a secret!

[benji]

but also such offense from a single player is not encouraged in today's NBA

Wilt's teammates pestered him to do it. He never wanted to do it, but they kept bugging him about it so finally in the third quarter of that game (he only had 41 at half-time) he said "ok" and they kept feeding him the ball. The Knicks soon realized what was happening so they sent, three-four-five guys at him, hanging on his arms, all sorts of stuff that would get you a flagrant two today. After the game, Wilt still felt bad about doing it because he thought it was so selfish.

Of course, those things are from what he and his teammates said so take it as you will...

Harvey Pollack (PR Man): It is a mythic game because Wilt scored exactly 100, no more, no less. And the game ended after Wilt scored his 100th point even though there were 46 seconds left on the clock. Those things will never happen again.

Wilt Chamberlain: When I got into the 80s, I heard the fans yelling for 100. I thought, "Man, these people are tough. Eighty isn't good enough. I'm tired. I've got 80 points and no one has ever scored 80." At one point, I said to Al Attles, "I got 80, what' the difference between 80 and 100?" But the guys kept feeding me the ball.

Tom Meschery (teammate): By the fourth quarter, the Knicks were waiting until the 24-second shot clock was about to expire before they shot. When we had the ball, they were fouling everyone except Wilt so he wouldn't get 100. So we would take the ball out-of-bounds and throw high lobs directly to Wilt near the basket. When Wilt wanted the ball, he was big enough and strong enough to go get it. Guys were hanging on his back, and he was still catching the pass and scoring. I knew it was going to happen when with about five minutes left Wilt dunked one and nearly threw two New York players into the basket with the ball, and Dave Zinkoff yelled over the PA, "Dipper Dunk for 86!"

Pete D'Ambrosio (official): The game was a real pain in the neck to call. The last three minutes of the game took about 20 minutes. The Knicks were jumping on guys just to keep the ball away from Wilt. Then New York would get the ball, and Philly would foul.

Al Attles (teammate): Frank McGuire told Wilt, "You bring the ball up the court." Wilt liked to think he could play guard, so he loved it. But Frank did that down the stretch so that if New York wanted to foul someone, it had to be Wilt.

Harvey Pollack (PR Man): Darrell Imhoff started at center against Wilt, but he fouled out and played only about half the game. By the end of the game, all of their big men had fouled out.

Marv Albert: the irony is that Darrell Imhoff's strength as a player was his defense, but he is forever the butt of the joke that "Here's the guy who held Wilt to 100 points," even though he wasn't on the court when it happened.

Wilt Chamberlain: I keep trying to remember, but I can't. I do know that they had build a fort around me when I caught the ball. It seemed like about 30 of my 36 field goals were fadeaway jumpers, because that was all I could take. What does stick in my mind was that I made 25 of my 26 free throws, then I missed two.

Al Attles (teammate): After the game, Wilt was in the dressing room and he wasn't celebrating like the rest of us.
I said, "Wilt what's the matter?"
He said, "I never thought I'd take 60 shots in a game."
I said, "But you made 36--that's better than 50 percent."
He said, "But Al--63 shots, Al."
Then he just shook his head.

Wilt Chamberlain: The 100-point game will never be as important to me as it is to some other people. That's because I'm embarrassed by it. After I got into the 80s, I pushed for 100 and it destroyed the game because I took shots that I normally never would. I was not real fluid. I mean, 63 shots? You take that many shots on the playground and no one ever wants you on their team again. I never considered myself a gunner. I led the league in scoring because I also led them in field goal percentage. I've had many better games than this one, games where I scored 50-60 and shot 75 percent.

IMO, only a big man can crack 100. They have to get the line 40+ times and that's easier for a post player. Then they have to hit almost all of them, while still making 30+ shots from the floor. I don't think you can get 100 on field goals alone.

I mean, take Jordan/Kobe, even if he has an above average game and gets to the line 10 times and makes them all. Even at Jordan's pre-1998 career FG% of 51% he still has to take 88 shots and hit 45 of them. Considering the Bulls took under 85 shots a game as a team, and the Lackers jacked up under 84 this past season. They have to take more shots than the entire team usually does. In today's game that one player pretty much has to be the only offense the team has, nobody else can shoot. The defenses will collapse on the player, or they'll drop into a zone forcing the player to shoot which will drop the FG% forcing them into more shots.

Remember in Wilt's day the game was blazing fast. Fastest in the history of the league. Wilt's team jacked up 115 shots in that game and threw up 112 a game. Even today's "super offense, fast paced" teams like the Mavericks only take 85 shots a game.

Note: You can make a point for three pointers making up the near 30 shot difference, but I looked at the Mavs and their three pointers recalculated into twos would only put them at 94. Then throw in their 22 FT's a game that gets demolished because Wilt's Warriors took 40 free throws a game. That's a possible 264 points a game compared to a possible 210 for the Mavericks. Wilt himself took almost as many as the Mavericks did at 17 a game.