[Box Score] — Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor’s Duel for the Ages
The Lakers and Warriors combined for 298 points, 188 rebounds, and 73 fouls…all in one game.
When Wilt Chamberlain stunned the world with his 100-point game on March 2, 1962, he broke his own single-game scoring record. However, Wilt’s original record — 78 points — came three months earlier, in one of the craziest games in NBA history against who at that time was the only man to ever score 70 points in a contest. This is the story of that game.
Welcome to [Box Score], where I take a look back at some of the most incredible box scores in the history of sports. And let me just tell you, this one’s a doozy, and one of my favorite NBA games of all-time.
The Setup
Date: December 8, 1961
Sport: Basketball (NBA)
Teams: Philadelphia Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers
About a month and a half into the 1961–62 season, the Lakers traveled to Philadelphia to match up with the Warriors. Two nights prior, they had won in overtime against the Syracuse Nationals. They would once again play more than the typical 48 minutes this time around against a Warriors team coming off a 137–132 loss to the St. Louis Hawks.
Los Angeles entered the game with a stronger record, at 19–7 versus the Warriors’ 13–10. However, it looked to be a fairly even matchup. The Lakers had won three of the first five meetings between the teams, but the Warriors had scored seven more total points. In a Warriors victory just a week prior, Chamberlain dropped 60, just a sample of what was to come.
It was battle between two of the league’s brightest stars — Chamberlain and the Lakers’ Elgin Baylor. Baylor had scored 34.8 points per game the prior season and would go on to score 38.3ppg in 1961–62, which still stands as the fourth-highest season average in league history (of course, the top three belong to Chamberlain). At this time, the single-game scoring record for a player was 71 points, set by Baylor against the New York Knicks on November 15, 1960.
The Game
Philadelphia held a nine-point lead after the first quarter and took that same lead into halftime. The Lakers used a big third period to go up 85–83 after three quarters, but the Warriors forced overtime, tying the game at 109 at the end of regulation. After not one, not two, but three overtimes, the Lakers came out on top, 151–147.
How did Chamberlain do, you ask? In a losing effort, Wilt Chamberlain dropped 78 points and grabbed 43 rebounds. Wilt played all 63 minutes, going 31–62 from the field and 16–31 from the free-throw line.
Baylor led the way for LA, going off for 63 points and 31 rebounds, totals that would be unbelievable if not for Chamberlain’s game for the opposing team. Additionally, Jerry West, the logo himself, had a fantastic game, recording a 30-point triple-double, finishing with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.
While the scoring numbers of Chamberlain and Baylor immediately stand out, the game was just as remarkable for its rebounding numbers. There were 188 rebounds, with the Warriors winning the battle on the glass 98–90 (if you were wondering the single-game record for team rebounds is 109).
Teams average around 45 rebounds a game in the modern NBA, but in the high-paced and free-throw-heavy early 1960s, that figure was in the low 70s. In this game, the teams shot a combined 114 for 291 (39.2%) from the field and 70 for 108 (64.8%) from the free-throw line. Eight players tallied double-digit rebounds, with two more players recording nine boards.
In total, 73 personal fouls were called, and six players fouled out, three from each team. 12 players were called for at least four fouls.
Outside of the three superstars, another great stat line belongs to the Warriors’ Tom Gola, who despite finishing with just six points on 2/15 shooting, managed 14 rebounds and 15 assists. He also fouled out.
The Aftermath
- The 141 points scored by Chamberlain (78) and Baylor (63) represent the most combined points by two players ever in the same game. At the time, these were the best and fifth-best scoring games of all-time. Currently, only 12 players have ever scored 63 points in a game (a combined 33 times), and this was the only time two players scored 60 points in the same game.
- On the very next day, Wilt dropped 61 points and 36 rebounds in a victory over the Chicago Packers.
- Chamberlain would join forces with Baylor and West on the Lakers starting in the 1968–69 season. Baylor would retire nine games into the 1971–72 season. The team would later win an all-time record 33 straight games, and eventually, the NBA Championship.
- On January 31, 2014, the Brooklyn Nets recorded just 17 rebounds in an entire game. Paul Pierce led the team with five.
Connor Groel is a writer who studies sport management at the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as editor of the Top Level Sports publication on Medium, and the host of the Connor Groel Sports podcast. His book, “Sports, Technology, and Madness,” is available now. You can follow Connor on Medium, Facebook, and Twitter, and view his archives at toplevelsports.net.
