Alright, let’s talk about this basketball thing, you know, the highest score without them runnin’ around extra. Folks call it “overtime,” I think. Anyway, highest score, regular time, that’s what we’re yappin’ about.
The big game, the one everyone talks about, was between them Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets. Happened way back, December 13, 1983, long time ago, I tell ya. Those fellas, they just kept throwin’ that ball in the hoop. Final score was somethin’ like 186 to 184. Pistons won, yeah, but that ain’t the main thing. The main thing is the points, all them points, 370 in all! Can you believe it? That’s a whole lotta scorin’, even I know that much.
- Game: Detroit Pistons vs. Denver Nuggets
- Date: December 13, 1983
- Final Score: 186-184 (Pistons win)
- Total Points: 370 (highest without overtime)
Now, some folks, they get all confused with other games, games with that overtime stuff. See, when they play extra, they score more, naturally. There was this game, Raptors and Pelicans, they scored a bunch in overtime, but that don’t count for what we’re talkin’ about. We’re lookin’ for the most points in just the regular game time, you understand?
They say lots of players scored big in that Pistons-Nuggets game. Four fellas scored over 40 points, can you imagine? That’s like, each of ‘em scorin’ a whole game by themselves! I heard some names, Terry Tyler, Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie Johnson, they all played too, put up some points. It was a real barn burner, as they say. I don’t know what a barn burner is exactly, but it sounds excitin’, all them points goin’ up and up.
This record, this 370 points, it’s been standin’ for a long, long time. Forty years, almost 41 now! That’s longer than some of them young fellas playin’ the game have been alive. Folks keep tryin’ to break it, scorin’ lots of points, especially with all them three-pointers they shoot now. They run around, throw the ball from way out, and it goes in more often than it used to, seems like. But still, nobody’s beat that Pistons-Nuggets game yet, not without goin’ into overtime.
They keep records of all this stuff, you know. Points in a quarter, points in a half, points in a game. They got people writin’ it all down, keepin’ track. Since 2014 or so, they even keep track of points every quarter, imagine that! But the big number, the one everyone remembers, is that 370. It’s like a mountain, ain’t nobody climbed higher yet, not in regular time anyway.
Some games, they get close. Playoff games, they can get real high-scorin’. I heard someone say a team scored 157 points in a playoff game, that’s a lot! But it still wasn’t as much as the Pistons and Nuggets. Those two teams, they just had a special night, a night where the ball kept goin’ in the hoop, a night for the record books, a night folks still talk about all these years later.
So, there you have it. The highest-scoring NBA game without overtime? Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets, 1983, 370 points. Don’t let nobody tell you different, unless they talkin’ about overtime, which is a whole ‘nother story. This here, this is the real deal, the highest score, regular time, set in stone. And that’s all there is to it. It ain’t rocket science, you know, it’s just basketball, a whole lotta scorin’ in one game.
