My Quest for the Lowest Scoring NBA Quarter
So, today I got this weird thought, you know? Just popped into my head while I was staring at the ceiling. I started wondering, what’s the absolute rock bottom, the fewest points a team has ever scraped together in a single quarter of an NBA game? It’s one of those stats that sounds kinda painful, but also super intriguing. My curiosity was piqued, so I decided to do a little digging. It’s not like I had anything better to do, right?
First thing I did, like anyone else I guess, was to fire up my computer. I opened up a search engine – you know the one – and typed in something like “NBA fewest points one quarter.” Pretty straightforward. I hit enter and waited for the magic to happen. A whole bunch of links popped up, articles, some forum discussions, the usual internet mix.
I started clicking around. My strategy was to look for something that looked kinda official, or at least from a sports site I’d heard of. Didn’t want to get my info from some random blog no one’s ever visited, you know? I scrolled through a couple of pages, saw a few numbers being thrown around. Some mentioned 4 points, some said 5. But I was looking for the absolute lowest.
Then I struck gold, or well, anti-gold, I guess. I found a few sources all pointing to the same unbelievably low number. It wasn’t 5, or 4, or even 3. Nope. It was 2 points. Can you even believe that? Two measly points in a whole 12-minute quarter of professional basketball! That’s like, one basket. Or two free throws. For a whole team. In 12 minutes. Wild.
Naturally, I got curious about who managed this… feat? And when? It turns out it’s happened a few times, which is almost more surprising.
- I saw one mention of the Dallas Mavericks doing it way back in 1997. They apparently only scored 2 points in the third quarter against the Lakers. Ouch.
- Then there was another one, the Golden State Warriors in 2004, managing just 2 points in the fourth quarter against the Raptors. Imagine trying to close out a game like that.
It’s funny, you go looking for one little stat, and you end up picturing these games, the frustration on the court, the silence of the crowd. It makes you appreciate those high-scoring games a bit more, doesn’t it? Or maybe just makes you glad you weren’t a fan of those teams on those particular nights.
So yeah, that was my little research adventure for the day. Found out that 2 points is the record low for a quarter. It’s kind of a bonkers statistic when you really think about the talent in the NBA. Just goes to show, sometimes, even the best can have a really, really off day. Or maybe the other team’s defense was just suffocating. Either way, quite a thing to learn!
