Epic Scoring Duel of 1978: George Gervin vs. David Thompson

On April ninth, nineteen seventy eight, the NBA have one of its greatest scoring showdowns against two players that didn't even play in the same game. On a day when two NBA legends, George Gervin and David Thompson separated by over one thousand miles, took to the court with one goal in mind to win the NBA scoring title and one of the closest scoring duels in NBA history. We're going to dive into the drama behind George the Iceman Gervin and David Skywalker Thompson as they left the NBA in all in the last game of the season today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge as we dive into the scoring showdown in nineteen seventy eight. And today's trivia question to listen out for is how much did George Girvin win the scoring title by over David Thompson in the nineteen seventy eight season. Listened throughout the episode for the answer, and if you miss it, I will give it to you at the very end. Now that nineteen seventy seven seventy eight season was the thirty second season in NBA history, and they were still in the transitional period, bringing the ABA into the NBA two years prior and bringing its stars with it, which included the likes of George Gervin and David Thompson, both stars on their ABA teams, but now showing how dynamic the ABA was in the NBA now, Bill Walton led the Portland Trail Blazers to the best record in the NBA with fifty eight wins and won the MVP that year, but injuries derailed his team's dominance and left the door open for something else to take the center stage as the season came to an end. So George Girvin was known for his smooth style in his conic finger roll, and he began his pro career with the ABA and the Virginia Squires before joining the San Antonio Spurs, becoming a league legend, and he would go on to lead the NBA in touring four times and be a nine time NBA All Star and was known for his cool and calm demeanor on the court, which earned him the nickname the Iceman, and he would be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in nineteen ninety six, and David Thompson was again an ABA star, and he was known as an electrifying guard who could drive the lane against anybody. He started at nc State, leading them to an undefeated season in NCAA title in nineteen seventy four and was drafted number one by both the ABA and the NBA in nineteen seventy five, and he chose the Denver Nuggets, where he became a high flying sensation. He was a five time All Star and won the nineteen seventy nine All Star MVP, and his career unfortunately would be cut short due to injuries, but he had a lasting impact on the game and would join George Griffin in nineteen ninety six in the Hall of Fame. So these two ABA legends were now in the NBA showing how good they could score against anybody, and heading into the final game of the season, both players were averaging twenty seven points a game, ahead of legends like Pete Merivich, Bob McAdoo, and Kareem abdul Jabbar, and it all came down to the last game of the season where they were separated by just fourteen points on the scoring leader board and winning the scoring title wasn't just about numbers, it was a legacy. Grivin wanted to solidify himself as one of the greatest scorers and for Thompson there was a chance to showcase himself amongst all the other legendary players at the time. And for the NBA, it really showed how good the ABA players were that they brought in as they were continuing able to continue their brilliance from the ABA to the NBA and help grow the ANBA even further. And the NBA was struggling as the Portland Trail players coming off their championship win, but unfortunately they're the leader Bill Walton had a foot injury, leaving them vulnerable in the playoffs in the league was under a cloud when Kermit Washington punched Rudy tom Janovich, which we covered in a previous episode and underscored the physicality of the time and what the NBA wanted to change. And two teams emerged the season as the Washington Bullets faced off against the Seattle SuperSonics, two teams no longer in existence in the NBA under those names, where the Washington Bullets would end up winning the title overall, but the last game of the season on April ninth, nineteen seventy eight, was an historic moment as each as Gervin and Thompson prepared for their last game. Thompson was facing off first against the Detroit Pistons as Gerving was going on to face off against the New Orleans Jazz and though and there was a time gap between the games which gave the upper hand to Gervin, who knew exactly how many points he would need to score in his final game to win the score title. So Thompson goes off first against the Detroit Pistons and he enters the game knowing he needs to set the bar so high that Gerving can't even match it. And we covered a previous final season scoring in a previous episode where David Robinson took on against Shack for the scoring title, where he scored seventy one points in the final game of the season to win the scoring title. But Thompson took it a step further years before that nineteen ninety duel in nineteen seventy eight, and he exploded the first half where the Nuggets coach legendary coach Larry Brown gave him full freedom to shoot all that he needed so he could win the scoring title, and he scored fifty three points in the first half alone, but he knew this may not be enough, but he was struggling due to exhaustion and in the second half he only scored twenty points, but this left him with seventy three points, the second highest total at the time, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's one hundred point game, and would only be beaten by Kobe Bryants eighty one points. Remember this was all done without a three point line. He would shoot thirty eight field goals. He would make seventy three percent of the shots he took, and go eighty five percent from the free throw line, hitting seventeen free throws, inning the game with seventy three points, showing exactly how many points George Gervin would need to score in his game in order to take the title, which made it much easier as he only needed to get fifty nine points to win the scoring title, which is no small feats. But heading into his game against New Orleans Jazz, he also came in hot, scoring fifty three points as well in the first half and Knowing he only needed a few more points to win the scoring title, he slowed down in the second half, scoring only ten points the rest of the game, ending with sixty three points. He shot forty seven percent from the field and scored thirty three points in the second quarter alone, but that was enough for him to beat Thompson out by point zero seven to win the scoring title in nineteen seventy eight. Though these games were hours apart, it captivated the NBA for the entire night, lasting about seven hours from when the first game started with Thompson until the game ended with Gerving as everyone wanted to see who would win the scoring title. Now, though Thompson would lose the scoring title to Gervin by such a narrow margin, he admitted he wasn't focused on individual accolades, as he just wanted to play and leave it up to fate and led him to one of the single greatest games in NBA history. Now, the scoring race is often remembered as the closest in NBA history, with Gerving getting the edge on Thompson, and it showcased a different style of coachings back in the day and how each player got to their goal and the dual represented a shift in basketball towards more superstar driven narrative rather than a team based game, as both players embodied free flowing off and defined the NBA for decades and led to great future scores in Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. And though this was a big moment, it was largely overlooked by the national media, as CBS chose to broadcast John Lechet's farewell game instead of either of these games with two of the leading scorers, and there's no surviving footage by the local broadcasts, and the radio recordings have been lost, and this historic moment is lost to history. We often think about how there is no video on Well Chamberlain's one hundred point game, and this one is years later and there's still no video and no audio. And David Thompson, this is his most memorable moment, is what he's known for, this seventy three point game. It's a huge moment in history, and it really cemented himself in the legacy of NBA history and still is the fourth highest scoring total in NBA history. George Gervin went on to win three more scoring titles after this and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest basketball scor These two players will always be tied together for this one moment where they didn't even face off against each other. It was all done in the stats book, and sometimes that's all we look at when we look back in history. I want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you like this, please follow us on our socials. We're on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook threads, Masdon Blue Sky, wherever you like to socialize, we're there. Please follow us so you can see pictures and videos of our episodes and come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History. And did you catch the answer to today's trivit question, how much did George Griffin beat David Thompson for the scoring title in nineteen seventy eight. The answer is by point zero seven. He won the scoring title, the closest in NBA history.