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1948

Geoff Petrie is born in Darby, Pennsylvania. He was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.

1950

Kevin Porter is born in Chicago, Illinois. He was a star player at DuSable High School, the same program that produced Nat Clifton and Maurice Cheeks.

1957

NBA coaching champion Dwane Casey is born in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In one of the earliest draft day blockbusters, Clyde Lovellette is traded from the Minneapolis Lakers to the Cincinnati Royals, along with Jim Paxson, in exchange for Bob Burrow, Ed Fleming, Monk Meineke, Art Spoelstra, and the draft rights to #1 overall pick Hot Rod Hundley.

1970

Rookie Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finishes with 33 points and 31 rebounds to lead the Bucks to a 101-96 victory over the Knicks in game three of the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite Abdul-Jabbar’s best efforts, it would end up being the only win in the series for Milwaukee, as the Knicks eventually advance in five games.

1973

Theo Ratliff is born in Demopolis, Alabama. After retiring from basketball, he returned to his hometown to found the Theo Ratliff Activity Center, a recreational and human resources facility.

1977

Exacting some revenge for the previous year’s “Miracle at Richfield” upset, the Bullets defeat the Cavaliers 104-98 in a winner-take-all game three of their first round series. It would subsequently take Cleveland seven years to return to the postseason, and 14 years to win another playoff series.

1981

Fresh off their first round upset over the defending champion Lakers, the Rockets pull off another postseason stunner, defeating the Spurs 105-100 in game seven of the Western Conference Semifinals. Calvin Murphy leads Houston with 42 points.

1984

The NBA playoffs start off with 16 teams for the first time, due to an expansion from six playoff teams per conference to eight and an elimination of first round byes. The first day of the postseason includes the eventual champion Celtics defeating the Bullets 91-83.

The Mavericks win in their playoffs debut, defeating the SuperSonics 88-86 in game of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Dallas trailed by as many as 16 points in the game but came back, with a Rolando Blackman jumper putting them ahead for good in the final seconds. The Mavericks would eventually win the series in five games.

In their 10th season of existence, the Jazz make their playoffs debut, defeating the Nuggets 123-121 in game one of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Adrian Dantley scores 30 points for Utah while Kiki Vandeweghe leads Denver with 33 points. The Jazz led by as much as 17 points in the fourth quarter before holding off a late Nuggets rally for the win. Utah went on to take the series in five games.

1987

Michael Jordan finishes the ’86-’87 season with a league leading 37.1 points per game, the highest average ever for any player besides Wilt Chamberlain. It’s Jordan’s first of 10 career NBA scoring titles and he’s also named 1st-Team All-NBA for the first of 10 times in his career.

1993

The SuperSonics honor legendary broadcaster Bob Blackburn by retiring his microphone. Blackburn was the team’s original play-by-play announcer in 1967, and remained in the role until his 1992 retirement.

1998

With owner Donald Sterling threatening a re-location to Anaheim, a settlement is reached with the Lakers, the NBA, and the city of Los Angeles for the Clippers to move into the Staples Center when it opens in 1999, sharing a home with their in-town rivals.

1999

During a Jazz win over the Lakers, John Stockton becomes the first (and still only) player in NBA history to reach the plateau of 13,000 career assists.

2004

Eventual Rookie of the Year Diana Taurasi (Connecticut) is the #1 overall pick of the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Draft.

The Grizzlies make their NBA playoffs debut with a 98-74 loss to the Spurs in game one of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. The Spurs would go on to sweep the series.

2011

For the first time in franchise history, the Grizzlies win a playoff game, defeating the Spurs 101-98 in game one of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Memphis was in its 16th season of existence and had been swept in the first round in all three prior postseason trips. The Grizzlies entered these playoffs as a #8 seed but would go on to stun the top seeded Spurs in six games.

2020

Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon) is the #1 overall pick of the New York Liberty in the WNBA Draft. Ionescu ended up playing just three games in her rookie season before going down with an ankle injury. Second round pick Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut) goes on to win Rookie of the Year with the Minnesota Lynx.

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