Today in sports history (1962), legendary center Wilt Chamberlain scored an NBA record 100 points against the New York Knicks. In just his third year in the NBA, Chamberlain was one of the league’s premier players. His Philadelphia Warriors hosted a New York Knicks team, led by Richie Guerin.
Chamberlain’s 100-point game is widely considered one of the greatest records in sports history and one that will probably never be broken. Kobe Bryant’s 81 points in 2006 was the closest that anyone has come since.
Wilt Chamberlain Scores 100, Warriors Destroy Knicks
According to Warriors coach Frank McGuire, the game plan did not revolve around getting Chamberlain the ball and boosting his stats. After the first few minutes of the game, the Warriors built a 19-3 lead with Chamberlain scoring 13 of the 19. The Warriors led 42-26 after the first quarter. Chamberlain had 23.
When halftime rolled around, the Warriors still led the Knicks, 79-68. Chamberlain was straying further from the path to 100, as he only had 41 points at halftime. With the lead and Chamberlain almost halfway to 100, Warriors guard Guy Rodgers said in the locker room that the Warriors should see how many points Chamberlain can get. McGuire agree.
Big Second Half For Wilt
As the third quarter continued, Chamberlain easily got to 50 points, even though he consistently saw triple and quadruple-teams. In an effort to curb Chamberlain’s dominance, the Knicks were playing very physical. McGuire screamed at the refs to call more fouls on numerous occasions. Chamberlain scored 28 in the quarter to bring his total to 69 points through three. At this point in the game, Chamberlain was only nine points short of his personal record of 78. He eventually built his points up to 75 with eight minutes remaining. Chamberlain finally broke his own record, scoring his 79th point 7:51 remaining in the game.
At this point in the game, the crowd was on their feet yelling to give the ball to Wilt. Warriors player Al Attles was just one of the players who was passing on open shots, as he gave the ball to Chamberlain instead of taking an uncontested layup. The Knicks then began fouling everyone on the Warriors not named Wilt Chamberlain. They were also running a stall offense. This was reciprocated, as the Warriors started to foul the Knicks.
Chamberlain had 94 points with 2:12 remaining in the game. He quickly scored his 96th and 98th points. On his next shot attempt, Chamberlain missed. Then, in Wilt Chamberlain style, he caught a high pass in the air and dunked it for his legendary 100-point performance.
