![]() Bryant Stith, who would go on to average a career-high 14.9 points in 1996-97, added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting with three 3s in the first 24 minutes.Įllis was a sharpshooter before the league became filled with sharpshooters. It’s now fourth behind Stockton (15,806), Jason Kidd (12,091) and Steve Nash (10,335).ĭale Ellis was one of the beneficiaries, hitting 7 of 9 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line, on the way to a game-high 21 points at the break. A traditional pass-first point guard, Jackson had a bunch of hot hands to feed throughout the first half against the Jazz. In the first 12 minutes alone, he piled up nine of his 10,334 career assists – which ranked second all time to Stockton when he retired following the 2003-04 season. In the 10th season of a 17-year NBA run, Jackson knew how to ride a hot hand at this point of his career. For one half of basketball, the Nuggets played to their utmost potential and were cruising to an impressive one-sided road victory against an NBA title contender.īut then, something happened. So the biggest question at this point was: After beating the winless Phoenix Suns in Motta’s debut a night earlier, would the Nuggets continue to take advantage of the mythical new-coach boost that’s often seen when a new head guy comes in and infuses a bit of a fresh start? Not only was it his second game with the Nuggets, but he was back in his home state of Utah, where he attended high school in Sandy before going to college at Utah State and landing his first head coaching job at Weber State in Ogden. It was a special night for Motta at the Delta Center. He also had an NBA title to his name after guiding the Bullets to the 1978 championship. ![]() ![]() The Nuggets believed they had their answer in veteran coach Dick Motta, who was brought in for his last head job at age 65 the day before the game in Salt Lake City. The roster, however, held some promise after the team had acquired Mark Jackson and Ricky Pierce from the Indiana Pacers, Sarunas Marciulionis from the Kings in the offseason and signed center Ervin “Not Magic” Johnson in the offseason.īut after stumbling out to a 4-9 record, the Nuggets were dealing with some adversity. Bernie Bickerstaff, who was in his third season in Denver and the second of his five head coaching stops, was fired for not doing more with a club that included not only veterans Jackson, Pierce and Dale Ellis, but also talented younger players Antonio McDyess, LaPhonso Ellis and Bryant Stith. Sadly, the Denver Nuggets had ditched their famous rainbow skyline and mountains uniforms three years earlier and moved to a copper and dark blue look with certainly less character. And they looked like it with a 9-2 record and seven straight wins despite wearing new purple and light blue uniforms that looked more ’90’s NFL Europe than NBA. Coming off a Game 7 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 Western Conference finals, John Stockton, Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz were considered one of the clubs to beat in the West. The 1996-97 season was still young on Nov. It had actually only happened one time previously in the history of the NBA that a team had blown a lead that massive. It has happened, but not every once in a while or once a season or even once in a blue moon. It might even pass as an expression for something that happens once a year or once in a blue moon.īut when the Bulls held a 35-point lead with 8:50 left in the third quarter before watching it evaporate in a 102-98 loss to the visiting Sacramento Kings that night, Del Negro said: “It happens. What was the big deal? Saying ‘it happens’ gives the impression that something occurs from time to time. Maybe it goes down every now and then or every once in a while. It no doubt still angers those who remember it well as one of the lowlights of Del Negro’s coaching tenure that ended up 81-81 with a pair of first-round playoff exits. ![]() ![]() Vinny Del Negro’s postgame quote drew the rath of Chicago Bulls fans, who didn’t have as merry of a holiday season following the on-court catastrophe that occurred on Dec. It has a complementary podcast called – you got it – The Box Score Show. The Box Score is a series in which we select one impressive box score, do all sorts of historical research, watch the game if we can find it, and write about it. ![]()
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