Robinson Scores 71

One is the most memorable game in Robinsons career, is the 71 point game on the final day of the 1994 season against the Los Angeles Clippers. --

Going into the game, David Robinson trail Shaquille O'Neal by three points to win the scoring title. But by the end of the day, he won the scoring title with 36 extra points.

He joins three other Hall-of-Fame players as one of only four players to score 70 or more points in one game, the other three players are Wilt Chamberlain (100, 78 in two occasion, 73 ,71, 70), David Thompson (73 points on the final day of the season, but unfortunately for him, still lost the scoring title to George Gervin after "Iceman' scored 63 points the same evening) and Elgin Baylor (72).

David Robinson:
" Generally, I don't get wrapped up in individual accomplishments. Most times, my primary focus is on the team. I just try to win games and not worry about personal goals. I don't like getting too much hype.
One time, however, there was an opportunity to win the NBA scoring title, and I capitalized on it - with lots of help from my teammates, of course.

It came on the final day of the 1994 regular season. At the time, I was locked in a close duel with Shaquille O'Neal of the Orlando Magic for the scoring championship.

Going into out final games, he was ahead by a fraction of a point. I needed to outscore O'Neal by four points to win the title.
San Antonio was playing on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers while Orlando was at home against the New Jersey Nets later that day.

Our game was meaningless for both clubs. We were in the playoffs, and the Clippers were not. Its only significance was its affect on the scoring race.

One thing that was special for me that day was the fact that my brother, Charles, was at the game and sitting on our bench. He was in the Air Force stationed at Biloxi, Mississippi, but was in Los Angeles at the time. Charles is a very good basketball player. He played at the Naval Academy, like I did, and practices with us occasionally.

Our coach John Lucas, was more fired up about the game than I was. He had said the previous day that since there was nothing else to accomplish during the regular season, it was fair for me to go for the scoring title.
My teammates also were rooting for me, which was a nice position to be put in for a change. Usually, it's the opposite. Most often, I'm concerned with what they're doing.

From the opening tip, I was hot. In fact, I scored the Spurs' first 18, accounting for all but two of our 20 first quarter points. Once my teammates realized that I had such a hot hand, they kept looking for me, trying to get me the ball.
The Clippers, of course, were trying hard to stop me. They were fighting, clawing, bumping, grinding, and double- and triple-teaming me to try and keep me from scoring. I had the scratches and bruises to show for it. In fact, I went to the foul line 25 times that night. That's a remarkable number under any circumstances.

In the second quarter, my production slowed considerably. I was not in sync and scored only six points. Still, I had 24 by the half.

My teammates were confident I was going to finish with at least 50 points. They knew I was capable of scoring as much as 35 or 40 in a half, possibly more. I had reached the half century mark easily a few times that season and figured that if I scored 50 or 55, I would win the title. Everyone knows that Shaq is capable of scoring a lot of points, but I figured about 50 would be safe.

I wasn't thinking much about Shaq, though. I was just concerned about playing my game and getting done what I had to do.
I really got rolling in the third period and scored 19 points, giving me 43 for the game. Even the Clippers' fans were rooting for me despite the fact that Los Angeles had a good shot at winning the ballgame, trailing by only four after three quarters.

The fourth quarter was really remarkable. Despite tremendous pressure from the Clippers' defense, who knew the ball was going into me most of the time, I scored 28 points. That gave me a total of 71, a total that put me into some elite company. Only three other player- Wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson, and Elgin Baylor- had scored as many as 70 points in an NBA game.

As the game went on, the most enthusiastic person in the arena was Lucas. John is very excitable, and he was going crazy on the sidelines. He loved it. He was jumping all around. He told me I wasn't coming out until I got 60. When I got to 60, he said I wasn't coming out until I broke George Gervin's team record of 63. When I did that, he said I wasn't coming out until I got 70.

When it was over, and we got to the locker room, Lucas said I should have had 80. I had missed a few foul shots an some field goal attempts. By the end, though, I was tired. I knew I had been to work that night against a Clippers team that had fouled me hard.

After the game, which we won 112-97, I figured the scoring race was over. I didn't think Shaq would beat me. He didn't. O'Neal needed 68 points against the Nets to take back the scoring lead, but finished with only 32.

I was the scoring champion for the first time in my NBA career, an honour for which I owe much to my teammates. I couldn't have done it without them. Their unselfishness was a very positive thing. It was fun to be a part of such an accomplishment. That's why I rank that as the most memorable game of my career. As I said, I don't usually place a high priority on individual accomplishments, but this was different. "

This brief description by David Robinson on his most memorable game was published in the February, 1994 issue (Vol. 23 No.4) of Basketball Digest.

                                        Off.  Def.
San Antonio     Mins  FG  FGA  FT  FTA  Rebs. Rebs. Asst. PF  Blks Stls Pts.
Dennis Rodman     36   4    5   0    0     3    14    3    1    1    1    8
Terry Cummings    22   2   10   1    2     6     6    2    0    0    0    5
David Robinson    44  26   41  18   25     4    10    5    2    2    0   71
Vinny Del Negro   26   1    3   0    0     0     2    6    2    0    4    2
Lloyd Daniels     25   2    7   0    0     0     2    1    2    1    2    4
Negele Knight     24   3    6   0    0     0     0    5    2    1    0    6
Sleepy Floyd      23   1    5   1    4     1     4    0    1    0    0    4
Antoine Carr      24   2    2   0    0     0     1    0    1    0    1    4
J.R. Reid         12   2    6   2    2     3     1    0    2    0    0    6
Jack Haley         4   1    2   0    0     0     1    0    2    0    0    2
Dale Ellis        DNP- Coach's Decision.
Willie Anderson   DNP- Coach's Decision.
____________________________________________________________________________
Total            240  44   87  22   33    17    41   28   17    5    8  112

                                        Off.  Def.
Los Angeles     Mins  FG  FGA  FT  FTA  Rebs. Rebs. Asst. PF  Blks Stls Pts.
Dominique Wilkins 21   6   17   3    4     0     1    2    2    0    1   16
Loy Vaught        25   7   10   2    2     2     2    1    4    0    0   16
Elmore Spencer     5   0    0   0    0     0     1    0    2    1    0    0
Ron Harper        20   2    6   0    0     0     3    0    0    1    1    4
Mark Jackson      16   1    6   0    0     2     1    6    0    0    2    2
Bob Martin        20   1    2   0    0     0     4    1    4    2    0    2
Charles Outlaw    27   2    5   0    0     3     3    0    6    3    1    4
Terry Dehere      28  10   17   4    4     2     1    2    0    0    1   26
Gary Grant        14   2    4   0    0     0     1    4    0    0    2    4
Harold Ellis      27   6   15   2    4     1     5    0    5    0    2   14
John Williams     19   1    4   0    0     0     4    2    2    0    2    2
Randy Woods       18   1    9   4    6     2     1    5    3    0    2    7
____________________________________________________________________________
Total            240  39   95  15   20    12    27   23   28    7   14   97

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