David Robinson Scores 71 points

THE RACE TO 71: ROBINSON’S DOMINANT OFFENSIVE SEASON


by Joe Calvillo

One of the most remarkable achievements of David Robinson’s career took place on April 24, 1994 against the Los Angeles Clippers. Entering the game trailing Shaquille O’Neal by 33 points in the race for the NBA scoring title, David scored 71 points on the Clippers and won the scoring title in the very last game of the regular season, averaging 29.8 points for the year. Shaq finished the season averaging 29.3 points. Only four other players have scored over 70 points in NBA history – Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, David Thompson and mostly recently Kobe Bryant.

To get to 71 points, David shot 63 percent from the floor making 26-of-41 attempts including a 3-pointer and 18-of-25 free throws. David filled up the stat line that night with things other than just points grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists and blocking two shots. Playing 44 of the 48 minutes in the game, David averaged 1.65 points a minute while he was on the court. Clippers coach Bob Weiss was said that Robinson was “dominant” and that he “double-teamed him with our forwards every time we could but he still scored points.”

Here is a look at the 1993-94 season and David’s sensational season:

  • David scored 20 or more points for 20 games straight during the 1993-94 season. Robinson started the scoring streak with 28 points against the Dallas Mavericks on 11/27/93 and scored 20+ for his 20th consecutive game at Golden State on 1/6/94 with 32 points.
  • Shaq and David each scored over 50 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1993-94 season. The Admiral torched Minnesota for 50 points on 2/21/94 and Shaq scored 53 points on 4/20/94 with only three games remaining on Orlando’s schedule.
  • David missed two games in January against the Washington Bullets and New York Knicks with a sore knee. Shaq recorded a DNP on 4/5/94 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
  • David scored in single digits only twice the entire season and posted double figures the other 78 games. He scored 9 points in a loss to New Jersey in the second game of the season and 8 points in March against Denver. The Spurs lost both games by an average of 27 points per game.
  • The 29.8 points per game average was the highest of Robinson’s career for a single season.
  • David would follow-up the record breaking 1993-94 season by winning the NBA MVP the very next year.