Abdur-Rahim's 50 Send Hawks Soaring
November 24, 2001
Shareef Abdur-Rahim became the first NBA player this season to reach 50 points in a game.
Abdur-Rahim reached a career-high as the Atlanta Hawks overcame an 18-point deficit for a 106-99 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night at Atlanta.
The Hawks, who beat Boston, 92-85, Wednesday, won two games in a row for the first time this season. They trailed, 82-72, at the end of the third quarter, but Jason Terry helped them finish the comeback, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the final period.
"The groove I was in, I felt like something good was going to happen," said Abdur-Rahim, who scored 10 points in the final period. "Either they were going to double me and I'd find one of my teammates, or I was going to score."
The 50-point mark was reached nine times last season. This season's high mark of 44 points was shared by Washington's Michael Jordan, Orlando's Tracy McGrady and Denver's Nick Van Exel.
While his previous career-high game featured 16 free throws, he did the bulk of his work from the field this time. Abdur-Rahim shot 21 for 30 from the field and eight for eight from the line.
"The nice thing about it is we got that effort in a win," said Hawk Coach Lon Kruger. "It's a great effort. The help was there, and Shareef made up whatever play he needed to finish."
Abdur-Rahim became the first Hawk player to score 50 points in nearly 10 years. Dominique Wilkins was the last to do it.
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/24/sports/sp-7829