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1953

The Minneapolis Lakers clinch their fourth title in a five year stretch by defeating the Knicks 91-84 in game five of the NBA Finals. The Knicks become the first and still only team to lose in three consecutive NBA Finals.

1960

Terry Teagle is born in Broaddus, Texas.

1962

Game three of the NBA Finals comes down to the buzzer, with Jerry West stealing an inbounds pass and laying it in as time expires for an unlikely 117-115 Lakers victory over the Celtics.

1963

Oscar Robertson scores 43 points but the Cincinnati Royals come up just short of an Eastern Conference Finals upset, losing 142-131 to the Celtics in game seven. Sam Jones leads the Celtics with 47 points, while Bill Russell finishes with 20 points and 20 rebounds. The Royals had managed to win two games at the Boston Garden during the series (games one and three) but couldn’t pull off the feat a third time in game seven.

1972

LaRue Martin from Loyola-Chicago is the #1 overall pick of the Trail Blazers in the NBA Draft. Bob McAdoo (North Carolina) goes #2 overall to the Buffalo Braves. The Bucks select Julius Erving (Massachusetts) with their first round pick (#12 overall) but he opts to instead join the Virginia Squires of the ABA.

1986

Dominique Wilkins ties Bob Pettit and Lou Hudson’s Hawks single game franchise record with 57 points in a 126-117 victory over the Nets.

1991

Royce White is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1994

Nerlens Noel is born in Malden, Massachusetts.

1999

The Chicago Bulls score just 49 points in a loss to the Heat, setting the record for lowest point total in a game in the shot clock era (since 1954).

2017

Brook Lopez becomes the all-time leading scorer in Nets franchise history, surpassing Buck Williams with his 10,441st point during a 114-105 loss to the Celtics. It turns out to be Lopez’s final game in a Nets uniform, as he’s traded to the Lakers in the subsequent offseason.

The Pistons play their final home game at the Palace of Auburn Hills, a 105-101 loss to the Wizards. The Pistons would begin play at the Little Caesars Arena in the ’17-’18 season.

2021

Enes Freedom sets the Trail Blazers single game franchise record with 30 rebounds in a 118-103 victory over the Pistons. It breaks Sidney Wicks’s record of 27, which had stood for just over 46 years.

2023

Aaliyah Boston (South Carolina) is the #1 overall pick of the Indiana Fever in the WNBA Draft. Boston went on to make an All-Star appearance in her first season and was named Rookie of the Year.

2024

John Calipari is named as head coach at the University of Arkansas, leaving Kentucky after 15 seasons. As Wildcats head coach, Calipari had led the program to three Final Four appearances and one national title. He is replaced by Mark Pope, who was the captain of the ’95-’96 Kentucky championship team.

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