Throwback Thurday (Nov. 26)

Well, it's Thanksgiving. Not only that, but it is also Thursday. And today we are going to look back at two 50 point game that were scored on the Denver Nuggets, this day in history, and later we will look at the career of Shawn Kemp.

The Denver Nuggets have had a tough time on November 26th in the past. On November 26, 1988, Michael Jordan scored 52 points in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. Michael Jordan shot 70% from the field and 60% from 3-point range in the game. He was making everything. Not only that, but MJ had a near triple-double as he had 7 assists and 11 rebounds. Pretty impressive huh? But Mike wasn't the only one who had a good game. Scottie Pippen had a great game off the bench for the Bulls as he had 19 points and 8 rebounds along with 4 blocks. However Pippen would foul out of the game.

The Nuggets would spoil Jordan's big night as they played great offense and the Bulls wouldn't know how to respond on defense. Alex English had 29 points and 9 assists for the Nuggets. Walter Davis would come off the bench scoring 28 points. 6 players for the Nuggets had over 10 points and 3 of them had over 20 points in the game. The Nuggets played great on offense and would end up winning the game, 128-123, leaving the Bulls to a 2 game losing streak.

Now, flash-forward exactly 6 year to November 26, 1994 when the Nuggets went up against the Dallas Mavericks. In that game, Jim Jackson, of the Dallas Mavericks, had a 50 points game. He and his teammate, Jamal Mashburn, would lead the Mavericks to victory. Mashburn had 35 points in the game. Jim Jackson shot 60% from the field, however, 16 of his 50 points came from the FT line. Jackson shot 16-17 from the line and really got the Nuggets into foul trouble. All of the starters for the Nuggets had at least 4 fouls. Mutombo was the only one who fouled out of the game with 6.

The Nuggets would end up losing the game in OT 124-123. It is weird that the Nuggets had two 50 point games scored on them on the same date, but the really weird thing is that they both happened on a Saturday. So I guess Saturday, November 26th isn't the best date to be on the Denver Nuggets.

"Shawn Kemp Concord High School 1988" by Concord High School - LeCount, Gale (Ed.). (1988) Concordian 1988 (Vol. 57), (p.70). Elkhart, Indiana: Concord High School.. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

I also want to say Happy Birthday to Shawn Kemp. He is an NBA Legend that was well known for his time with the Seattle Supersonics. While he wasn't the greatest player, as he only averaged 14.6 PPG over his career, he was a great explosive player to watch. No one matched his explosiveness at the rim, and if you were in his way, he would go over you.

He played really great in the playoffs, averaging 18.7 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks in 7 post-seasons with the Sonics. Out of those 7 playoff runs included a trip to the Finals where him and guard, Gary Payton, lost to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Shawn Kemp had a career full of highlights. While the numbers don't look that impressive, he will always be remembered as a legend in the hearts of all the Sonics fans. While the Sonics don't exist today, there is still Sonics pride out there. And at the heart of it is Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.