[2K23][Knicks] Pocket Full Of Dreams - Knicks tie record for best start ever

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Glossary:
Settings
Starting Roster
Introduction
Season 1 Recap
1984 Draft
1984 Offseason
Season 2 Recap
1985 Draft + Offseason
Season 3 Recap
1986 Draft
Season 4 Recap
1987 Draft

Season 5:
Opening Night @ Bullets
Game 2: Knicks @ Nets
Knicks start 3-0
First home game
Chris Mullin drops 50 on Larry Bird

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SETTINGS

Team Control: NEW YORK KNICKS
In the offseason: ALL TEAMS
Trade Override: ON
Stepien Rule: OFF
Level of Difficulty: TBD

I take control in the offseason over all teams, so I can manipulate the draft, free agency and other roster moves.
This is in the first place to keep things somewhat realistic, true to history and interesting.
For example I plan to put Michael Jordan on the Bulls, Kobe Bryant on the Lakers, et cetera.

The trade override option is to help me put together the team I want to play with, but also other teams to make sure that there are worthy rivals in the league.
I'm not planning to abuse it, at least not much.

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NEW YORK KNICKS STARTING ROSTER:


Note: The Knicks don't own their first round pick in the 1984 draft.

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INTRODUCTION
In 1983 Boston Celtics owner Harry T. Magurian Jr. sold the team, partly or entirely due to bad relations with the Arena ownership.
In this MyNBA story he buys a majority share of the New York Knicks (51%) with the money he received and then some, in the same summer.
His selling point to Gulf & Western being his knowledge of and passion for basketball, as well as the successes he had with the Boston Celtics.


Harry T. Mangurian Jr.

Mangurian appointed Donnie Walsh to be the new General Manager of the Knicks.
Hubie Brown stayed on as Head Coach.

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Season 1 Recap:

TRANSACTION REPORT



I could also get a 1988 Nuggets pick for Rory Sparrow, but opted for the 1987 pick of a better team.



The Bulls offered their 1987 first round pick for Cartwright. Very juicy pick, so I took it.



This trade was made to get my own 1984 first round pick back, and I also got a 1987 pick out of it.
The cost is a great player though. My team's chemnistry dropped big time after this trade.



The Mavericks initially offered the 1986 Cavaliers 1st for just Walker.
When I tried to get the 1984 Cavaliers pick instead, they wanted Orr too.
I could have gotten one first for both players, but I opted for this great draft pick for the both of them.

I could have also gotten another first for Ray Williams, but it would leave me without a point guard so I kept him.

The Knicks roster after the trades:



New York Knicks draft picks after the trades:




SEASON RESULTS:

Best Record: LOS ANGELES LAKERS, 61-21

NEW YORK KNICKS: 29-53 (9th seed)

MVP: Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)

PLAYOFF TREE:



Shocker in the first round: the Lakers get swept by the Spurs!!!
There are 6 upsets in round 1!



The San Antonio Spurs continue to stun the league as they beat Utah in 6 and progress to the Conference Finals as the 8th seed.
It's the 7th seed vs the 8th seed in the West:



However, it's the Nuggets taking the Spurs down in 7 games.
In the East the Celtics progress to the Finals:



The Celtics beat the Nuggets 4-1 in the Finals. Larry Bird is Finals MVP.

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The 1984 Draft:



Before the lottery I had the 4th best odds at the #1 overall.



I stayed at 4. The Chicago Bulls lost pick 1 to the Washington Bullets.



After the lottery I traded my 4th pick and the 9th pick and Dave Greenwood for the 1st pick.

I have no screen of it because I was surprised that they took my offer.

I then traded down one spot with the Bulls, because I preferred to get Olajuwon and have Jordan on the Bulls.
This campaign is meant to be a Reggie Miller centered save, trying to battle with Michael Jordan.

I picked up their 1985 first round pick in the trade (top 5 protected).



The draft then started. No surprise at the top as Jordan was picked by the Bulls.



I took (H)Akeem 2nd overall.



I had forgotten to take control of all the teams, and there was no way to do it during the draft.
I would have surely taken Barkley for the 76ers, but the cpu didn't:



The Bullets then took Barkley.



This was the 14th pick:



The top 14 of the draft:




#12 and 13 were fake players, which disappointed me.
I learned my lesson and checked and edited the 1985 draft class before importing it.

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1984 OFFSEASON:

NY Knicks roster after Free Agency:



TRANSACTION REPORT:

I went on and traded most of my talent for more draft picks.









This is my draft capital for the next 4 years:

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Season 2 Recap

Best Record: LOS ANGELES LAKERS, 68-14

NEW YORK KNICKS: 15-67

MVP: Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)

Rookie of the Year: Akeem Olajuwon (Knicks)

Olajuwon took the award over Michael Jordan with an excellent season:



PLAYOFF TREE:



This time there were no upsets at all in the first round.
Last year's Finalists Denver Nuggets got swept by the Portland Trailblazers.



It looks like this could be the year that Magic and Bird face each other in the Finals.
But then the Celtics will still have to beat the first seed Detroit Pistons, who won 60 games.



Indeed we get a Bird vs Magic Finals:



And the Lakers take it in 5 games.

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1985 Draft + Offseason





And so I have the first pick again.
I didn't want Karl Malone or Patrick Ewing though.
I'm already building a great team and would rather play against them.
I did check the trade finder to trade down one or two spots, but ended up not trading the pick this time.

The Bulls pick jumped from 7 to 3 which means I didn't get their pick, it was top 5 protected.
Michael Jordan is going to get some help.

I took Chris Mullin first overall.



The Spurs went with Patrick Ewing at #2.



Then the Bulls were up and they took Karl Malone.
Jordan and Malone together can become quite the duo.



At pick 16 I decided to trade in. I was willing to give a future first for it but to my surprise they gave me this option:



I drafted Detlef Schrempf.

The first 21 picks went as follows:





In free agency I signed Mario Elie (rookie) to a 3 year contract plus team option.

Hakeem Olajuwon had a great training camp progression:



Final action of the offseason was the summer league, which we won:

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SEASON 3 RECAP

Best Record: LOS ANGELES LAKERS, 68-14

NEW YORK KNICKS: 31-51 (10th seed)

MVP: Magic Johnson (third time in a row)



Karl Malone took Rookie of the Year.



Olajuwon was named Defensive Player of the Year (in just his second season).



And Michael Jordan was the Most Improved Player of the year.




PLAYOFF TREE:



Karl Malone has catipulted the Bulls to the 3rd seed in his first season.
The Pistons shockingly miss the playoffs altogether after a 60 win season the year before.

Round 1 results:



The young Bulls fell to the 6th seed Milwaukee Bucks.
Utah Jazz also advance as the 6th seed, in the West. Other than that, no upsets.

2nd round:



No back-to-back Bird vs Magic Finals as the Bucks continue thier run and knock out the Celtics in 5 games.

Conference Finals:



Both 1st seeds make the Finals.
The Sixers managed to take game 1, but after that the Lakers won 4 in a row to take home back to back titles.
Magic Johnson is already an all-time great with 3 MVPs in this sim and two championships (3 total), and he is still young.

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1986 Draft



The Mavericks are odds favorite to win the lottery, via Cleveland.
A bit painful for me, as they offered this pick to me in 1983 but I negotiated for the Cavs 1984 first round pick instead.

Lotto results:



My pick dropped from 4th to 7th.

The Mavericks took Brad Daugherty first overall.



The Spurs got the second pick for the second year in a row, and took Len Bias.
Bias will play together with Patrick Ewing, who they took last year.



Dennis Rodman went 3rd, to the Houston Rockets.



Even though my pick dropped from 4th to 7th I still landed my initial target, namely, point guard Mark Price.

The top 21 of the draft:





I signed Danny Ainge in Free Agency.

Finally, here is the player progression of my players:

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SEASON 4 RECAP

Best Record: CHICAGO BULLS, 62-20

NEW YORK KNICKS: 59-23 (2nd Seed)

MVP:



Defensive Player of the Year:



Hakeem takes both awards in just his 3rd year! Amazing season for him.


PLAYOFF TREE:



First round results:



The Knicks advance as well as the Bulls. If both win again they meet in the Conference Finals.



The Knicks get elimated in 6 games though by Barkley's Bullets.



Barkley and his team defeat Jordan and Malone as well.
Very impressive run by the Bullets. Can they detrone the Lakers in the Finals?

The answer is no. Lakers win in 5 and have a threepeat!

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1987 Draft + Offseason



I had the 4th, 5th and 7th pick before the lottery.
I had hopes that one might jump, but surely not two. But that's what happened:



Now I could get Reggie Miller and Scottie Pippen like I wanted, without even having to trade up!






I had the 7th pick also, and wanted either Horace Grant or Derrick McKey.
I took the latter, and traded for the 10th pick by giving up three later picks, to take Grant also.



Top 14 of the draft:




I signed Don Nelson to be the new Head Coach:



Player progression in the offseason:



Great training camp for Mark Price!

IN THE NEXT UPDATE: Actual Gameplay!

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OPENING NIGHT @ WASHINGTON BULLETS

Coach Don Nelson opted to start rookie Scottie Pippen.
Detlef Schrempf began on the bench.



Reggie Miller had a very rough shooting night in the first game of his professional career.
The rookie from UCLA who was chosen with the number one overall pick in the draft started his career
0 for 11 from threepoint range.

"It's very disappointing. I had high expectations of myself going into the game."

Miller finished the game with 15 points on 7 made field goals along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a block.


Reggie Miller missing the first jumpshot attempt of his professional career

"Coach told me to keep shooting. He wants a fast pace offense. But I just didn't hit any of my shots.
It's very disappointing, but I got to get over it. Coach wants me to keep shooting."

Coach Don Nelson blamed Miller's shooting woes on rookie jitters.

"He will settle down, I'm sure. Reggie is a great kid. Very ambitious, and very passionate about the game.
I feel bad for him. Every player has a bad game now and then. It's a shame it had to be his first game,
because that's one you remember forever."

Nelson, who made his debut as Knicks coach versus the Bullets, raised eyebrows by starting rookie Scottie Pippen
at power forward over Detlef Schrempf.

"It was a tough choice. Schrempf can really shoot the ball, and he is bigger.
But I think Scottie has a chance to become an all time great,
and you want to give a player like that a real opportunity to prove himself."

Pippen and Schrempf both played about 28 minutes in the game.

"Schrempf was great. I'm not surprised about how well he played. Boy can really shoot.
I had to let him play. We were down and he helped us come back into the game.
But it was the plan all along to give him just as many minutes as the starters. I told him that too."

"Initially, the plan was to start Scottie and let Detlef finish the game.
But with how it went, I wanted both players to be in the game in the 4th quarter."

And that meant that Nelson put Pippen in at point guard in the 4th quarter.

"Scottie is one of the most versatile players I have ever seen. The only thing lacking in his game, is long range shooting.
But we will work on that. He did well at point guard. If he keeps that up, he could be a candidate to start at that position for us."

Pippen ended the game with 9 points on 3 for 5 shooting, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Price ended the game with 11 points on 5 for 11 shooting, 2 assists and 3 turnovers.

But, it was Hakeem Olajuwon who carried the Knicks to a victory.
The reigning MVP scored 32 points on perfect shooting (16 for 16).
He also had 24 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 blocks.

The Knicks found themselves down 11 points in the first half, but rallied back in the third quarter,
to come back from behind and win by 12, 119-107.

The next game of the New York Knicks is versus the New Jersey Nets in New Jersey.

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GAME 2: KNICKS @ NETS



New York faced New Jersey in game 2 of the 1987/88 season.

The Knicks started strong and cruised to a win, 134-86.

Hakeem Olajuwon had an outstanding game once again.
He scored 24 points on 14 shot attempts, and had 23 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and 7 blocks.

Star rookie Reggie Miller posted 25 points and scored his first 3 threepointers of his career.


Rookie Reggie Miller scoring the threepointer of his career

Scottie Pippen started at power forward once again, but played most of his minutes at guard.
He had 18 points on 9 field goal attempts to go along with 3 rebounds and 8 assists.


Scottie Pippen with an emphatic dunk in the first quarter

It was point guard Mark Price who was the leading scorer however, despite only playing 24 minutes again.
He scored 29 points on 15 field goal attempts, 11 for 15 from the field, and 5 for 8 from threepoint range.


Mark Price

Coach Don Nelson was very happy with the win. He thought his team played great.

"We were very efficient from the floor. I like us taking a lot of threepoint shots.
We made 16 threepointers on 28 attempts. If we keep that up, we're very hard to beat.
We have to make sure to clean up the defensive glass better though."

The Nets had 27 offensive rebounds in the game.








The Knicks travel to Milwaukee next to play the Bucks three days from now,
before getting home for three consecutive games at Madison Square Garden.

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KNICKS START 3-0





Hakeem Olajuwon continued to impress with excellent efficiency and defensive prowess.
He posted his third double double of the season and had a steal and 4 blocks in the game.



Shooting guard Reggie Miller put up 26 points to lead New York on that end.
He hit 5 of his 13 threepoint attempts.

Statistics:







New York faces Cleveland Cavaliers in their next game. It's their home opener.

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First home game: Knicks vs Cavs



Knicks had an easy home opener vs the Cavaliers on paper.
The Cavs had the worst record last season. But they picked third in the draft, and selected center David Robinson.
Perhaps he can be a building block for them and propel them to better times.
Early in the first quarter though, Hakeem Olajuwon would have none of it and blocked the star rookie center.



Olajuwon finished the game with a career high 8 blocks.

Reggie Miller made his home debut in Madison Square Garden.
He scored a game high and career high 40 points, including 7 threepointers.


Reggie Miller with the first dunk of his professional career


One of the 7 threepointers that Reggie Miller made in the game

Miller said he liked playing in 'the Garden'.
"It was a great atmosphere. I don't know if it was because it was the home opener, or whether it's
always like that. But I loved playing for this crowd. I think the entire team fed off their energy."

New Yorker Mario Elie shined off the bench, scoring 8 points in just 5 minutes in the first half.

The Knicks had no trouble putting the Cavs away early.

"This was a must win game for us," said Coach Don Nelson.
"Next game we will have a better idea of where we stand, when we face the Boston Celtics."


Detlef Schrempf finishes a tough lay up inside


Hakeem Olajuwon dunks the ball home off an assist by Reggie Miller


Hakeem Olajuwon returning the favor sending Miller to the basket all by himself

The Knicks showed little mercy to the Cavs, blowing them out by 47 points.
It's the Knicks' largest win of the season.

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CHRS MULLIN SCORES 50 POINTS IN WIN OVER CELTICS


Chri Mullin scores his 50th point in the game (career high) with a dunk
in the closing minutes of the game



Chris Mullin scored 50 points in a win over the Boston Celtics.
He hit 5 threepointers in the first quarter and went on to make 14 threes in total (NBA record).
An emphatic dunk with one minute to go put him at 50 points total.


The Knicks kept looking for the hot hand

"What a great game," Mullin said in the post game press conference.
"I never knew about records like these. Well, until Reggie joined the team that is."

Miller almost broke the record for made threepointers in a game last game, when he made 7 of them.
He came one short of tieing the record.

"Am I jealous?" Reggie laughed. "No, no, no! Do I wish I did it? Sure. But that's my teammate right there.
Didn't you see me feeding him the ball in crunch time?"

It was Reggie Miller himself who received MVP chants from the crowd in the fourth quarter,
when he got to the free throw line. He added 31 points to Mullin's 50.


Reggie Miller with a made threepoint shot over the outstretched arm of Larry Bird

"Well yes," Miller said. "It was a great honor. But, I'm sure they'd done the same for Chris.
Especially after the game that he had. He just didn't get to the free throw line."

While it was all smiles in the Knicks locker room after the game, how different was it on the other side,
in the Celtics' locker room.

"We have to do better if we want to win the championship," said Kevin McHale, who was 0 for 6 in the game.

Larry Bird praised the Knicks.
"That's a great team. We knew it coming in. You don't draft 4 players in the top 3 and be a bad team.
It just doesn't happen."

"We didn't play awful in the first half. We were right there, within 10, maybe 12 points.
Until 3 minutes to go or so in the second quarter. In the second half we totally fell off.
Hopefully we learn from this."

Bird played well himself, scoring 37 points in 31 minutes, on 16 for 24 shooting.


One of Larry Bird's made baskets

Scottie Pippen and Hakeem Olajuwon also had a good game for the Knicks.
Pippen had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, and Olajuwon had 27 rebounds along with 20 points in the game.


Scottie Pippen dunked on Larry Bird


Hakeem Olajuwon takes advantage of a mismatch in the post



STATISTICS:










TOP 10 SCORERS IN THE LEAGUE:

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KNICKS DEFEAT CLIPPERS AND STAY UNDEFEATED



Hakeem Olajuwon shined as the New York Knicks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers, 151-97.
Olajuwon had 39 points, 27 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 blocks.
Chis Mullin and Reggie Miller both added 35 points.


Reggie Miller with a breakaway dunk

The Knicks were very efficient, shooting 60 for 102 from the field.

They put their winning streak on the line in the next game vs the Philadelphia 76ers.

STATISTICS:

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Knicks move to 7-0 start in the season



The New York Knicks have won once more and it was a convincing victory again, just like the previous games.
This time the Philadelphia 76ers proved to be too weak to create big problems for the Knicks.
Moses Malone was the leading scorer in the game, but in the end he couldn't much on his own against New York's defense.
The Knicks won every quarter and beat the Sixers by 45 points.
It was their fourth consecutive 40+ point win, and the fifth of the season.

Quarter By Quarter


Reggie Miller and Scottie Pippen led New York with 26 points each.
Mark Price had 22 and Hakeem Olajuwon 20.

STATISTICS:




NEXT GAME:
MICHAEL JORDAN'S CHICAGO BULLS

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NEW YORK KNICKS BEAT JORDAN'S BULLS WITH EASE



Point guard Mark Price shined in the game against the Chicago Bulls.
While all eyes were focused on the matchup between shooting guards Reggie Miller and
Michael Jordan, who had both been first overall picks, it was the Knicks' point guard
who scored a season high 34 points and also dished out a season high 13 assists.



Hakeem Olajuwon, who suffered a slight injury in the first half, scored 26 points and had 25 rebounds.
Olajuwon hurt himself on a 17 foot jumpshot, but was able to continue in the game.

"This was a key game for us. I didn't want to sit on the bench," said the reigning MVP.

Reggie Miller scored 29 points in the game, including 5 made threepointers.

Michael Jordan only played 24 minutes in the game. He went 6 for 9 from the field.

"Yeah uhm, I don't know what's up with that," said Reggie Miller.
"It's almost as if they were scared to play us..."
"We were up for it though. The best team in the league last year... Well bring them on!"

The Knicks improved to 8-0, and the Bulls dropped to 4-2 in the season.



STATISTICS:

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James Worthy proves to be a handful for the New York Knicks



The New York Knicks have beaten the Houston Rockets today in what was a close game for three quarters, 140-122.

The Houston Rockets scored 122 points on New York, the most a team has all season.
It was the first time the Knicks had to allow an opponent more than 100 points since the first game of the season.

James Worthy scored 38 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. The Rockets had 38 assists as a team.

Worthy shocked the league this past summer when he left the 3-time Champions L.A. Lakers for the Houston Rockets.


James Worthy

"They proved to be a handful," said Knicks' Coach Don Nelson after the game.
"Maybe we are finally getting teams' their best game."

The Rockets started the game hot and led by two points after the first half.
The game was still close in the third quarter, but by the end the Knicks were up 5.
In the fourth quarter the Knicks finished the job.

Quarter By Quarter


Coach Nelson had to keep his starters on the court the entire game.
Mullin and Miller both played the full 48 minutes.
Mullin had 35 points and Miller 30. Mark Price also had 33.

STATISTICS:

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Big three score 115 points as the Knicks brush the Pacers aside



The New York Knicks' big three (Olajuwon, Miller and Mullin) showed out against the Indiana Pacers today.
The three players combined for 115 points going 45 for 63 from the field.

Olajuwon had 35 points, 24 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 8 blocks.
Miller had 46 points and Mullin 34. Both hit on 8 threepoint shots (tied for 2nd most in a game in NBA history).

Scottie Pippen had his first career triple double: 11 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists.
Mark Price scored 18 points and dished out 13 assists.

The Knicks had expected a tough game beforehand, as the visiting Pacers were 7-2 in the season.
But the Knicks won every quarter by 10 points or more and blew the Pacers out.



The leading scorer of the NBA Bernard King had just 14 points in the game and dropped behind Adrian Dantley,
Reggie Miller and Larry Bird in average scoring per game. The Knicks have three players in the top 10.

Quarter By Quarter:


The Knicks play their next game against the Kings before facing the 9-1 Portland Trailblazers.

STATISTICS:

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Knicks win by 63 points vs the Sacramento Kings



The New York Knicks once again showed their dominance tonight as they beat the Sacramento King
by 63 points, 144-81. Reggie Miller and Hakeem Olajuwon both scored 35 points, and Chris Mullin
and Mark Price both had 23 points. Scottie Pippen added a double double to the stat sheet.

The Knicks outclassed their opponents in every quarter.



"Scoring 144 points, it's been done. Keeping opponents to 80 points in 4 quarters also.
What makes us unique however, is that we do both, even in the same game," said Coach Don Nelson.

STATISTICS:




NEXT GAME:
THE 10-1 1ST SEED IN THE WEST: PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS!

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Knicks overcome Blazers in battle of the 1st seeds at Madison Square Garden



The New York Knicks have improved to 12-0 by beating the #1 seed in the West Portland Trailblazers, 139-105.
Reggei Miller scored 36 points and Mark Price 30 as the Knicks continued their excellent start to the season.
They are one win away from having the best start in NBA history since 1958, when the Boston Celtics started 14-0.



Clyde Drexler had 35 points and 7 rebounds in the game, but it wasn't enough to startle the Knicks, who once again could depend
on a Scottie Pippen triple double, his second of the season. He had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

Hakeem Olajuwon flirted with a triple double once again as he had 8 blocks in the game to go along with 27 points and 18 rebounds.
It was the fourth time this season that he had 8 blocks in a game. He averages over 6 blocks per game. Olajuwon fouled out in the game.

STATISTICS: