Description
Entering the evening of April 20, 1994—four days prior to the conclusion of the regular season—San Antonio Spurs Center David Robinson held a slim scoring lead over Shaquille O'Neal, averaging 29.26 points per game to O'Neal's 29.03. That evening however, O'Neal made his move, scoring a then-career-high 53 points in a blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The performance thrust O'Neal into the scoring lead, pumping his average up to 29.32.
With both Robinson and O'Neal holding steady in their team's penultimate games of the regular season (Robinson scored 29, O'Neal 27), that set up a final day showdown for the right to claim a scoring title that'd bounced back and forth between the two future Hall of Famers all year.
Robinson's afternoon finale against the Los Angeles Clippers began innocently enough, accounting for 24 of his team's 37 first half points (18 of San Antonio's 20 in the first quarter, just 6 points in the second). With 43 points heading into the fourth, it seemed Robinson was in line to match or eclipse Shaq's 53-point outing just four days prior. And sure enough, Robinson delivered, scoring 17 points through the first 10 minutes of the fourth, notching 60 points for the first time in his career.
But that's where things really got interesting.
Following a Robinson jumper with two minutes remaining (62), the Spurs committed two fouls in subsequent possessions, one of which led to Robinson converting 1 of 2 free throws on the other end (63) & the other which culminated in Clippers guard Randy Woods being called for a technical foul, with a free throw converted by Robinson (64). Robinson's 64 points set a new franchise record, breaking the previous record of 63 points set by George Gervin, who was sitting courtside as a Spurs assistant coach for Robinson's performance.
Robinson's final act came in rapid succession. First, he connected on his only 3-pointer of the day (67). A moment later, the Clippers failed to get back on defense following a made basket, leading to a Robinson breakaway dunk (69). Then, following a Bob Martin dunk, the Spurs worked the ball back over to Robinson, who rose above a double team to connect on his final shot of the day (71).
"I looked up at the scoreboard,” Robinson later told reporters. “I said, `71 points. Oh, my goodness!' It was unbelievable. My team has been behind me the whole year. They always push me to do a lot of individual things. As a leader, I just try to win games, but tonight they really wanted me to shoot it. When the game started they were looking for me almost every time down the court.”
With his performance, Robinson became just the fourth player in NBA history at the time to reach the 70-point plateau and the first to do so since David Thompson's 73-point performance in 1978 (coincidentally, Thompson's performance came in an end-of-season bid to usurp George Gervin for the scoring title.
Robinson's outburst pushed his scoring average up to 29.78, sliding comfortably past O'Neal to retake the scoring lead.
With Orlando's season finale coming later that same day, O'Neal had an opportunity to offer a retort. Alas, while he did finish with 32 points, it fell well short of the 68 he'd have needed to retake the scoring lead once and for all.
All told, Robinson finished with 71 points on a 26-of-41 shooting from the field (.634 percent), 18-of-25 from the line (.720 percent), 14 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.
His quarter-by-quarter scoring breakdown:
First Quarter: 18
Second Quarter: 6
Third Quarter: 19
Fourth Quarter: 27
This upload is an amalgamation of two previously uploaded videos:
1. A lower quality video from 2011 with play-by-play
2. The Spurs' own upload from 2012—with slightly better video quality but with no play-by-play (replaced by music)
The video above combines the play-by-play of the 2011 upload with the slightly better video quality of the Spurs' 2012 upload. Someday, it'd be nice to see a full HD upload with play-by-play, but for now, this may be the best we can do.