Top 10 performances at Madison Square Garden by active players
Today, Stephen Curry entered the history books by dropping 54 points on the New York Knicks in a losing effort. Curry has entered elite company. Only seven players, including Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, have scored more than Curry’s 54 in a single game at the Garden. There is something about the Knicks’ home court, Madison Square Garden, which makes it a matter of pride to put on a show. Madison Square Garden is the Mecca of basketball. It is even haunted by a poltergeist in Spike Lee.
Hear from the Knick Killer, Lee’s nemesis, Reggie Miller about what it means to play in the Garden - “To this day, the Garden and the fans, it’s the best venue. I don’t care if it’s baseball or football or basketball, any time you’re coming into New York City you want to do well. It’s the media capital of the world. They have the most knowledgeable fans, the most die-hard fans, and you want to perform well on the biggest stage. It wasn’t just New York where I had my biggest games, but it was the biggest stage. and when you perform well on the biggest stage, more people see you and more people are going to know about it.”
Here’s a look at the top 10 scoring performances at the Garden by opposing players who are still in the league:
On his debut at the Garden, Kobe said, “I remember being as nervous as heck. I weighed 80 pounds soaking wet and having to guard John Wallace. My career has progressed since then, for sure.
“This place is special because of the fans. They’ll boo you the whole game but they appreciate the game,” Bryant said. “It felt great to get that reaction from these fans because they love what you do, and it’s a great performance and being able to celebrate that moment . . . it felt great.”
“On a lighter note, I’m going to review this documentary I’m doing with Spike Lee tonight after the game, and I didn’t feel like sitting next to him and hearing him talking trash about the Knicks, so that was added incentive as well. Seriously. He’s going to get an earful tonight. You want to play well here. The building is special because it is the last one left. This is the last one that holds all the memories of all the great players.”
Kobe Bryant idolizes Michael Jordan. Although he hasn’t passed the six rings of Mike, he did cross Jordan’s mark at the Garden of 55 points. Kobe shot 61% from the field and had 3 assists. He was 20 of 20 from the free throw line.
“I felt good all night. Obviously played the whole game, so was just trying to keep my legs underneath me on the offensive end, and you know, just stick to the game on the defensive end,” Curry said. “Once I started seeing that three-ball go down in transition, all sorts of spots on the floor, I knew it was going to be a good night.”
Curry was hot from downtown, he went 11 of 13 from three point range. Curry shot 64% from the field and a mind boggling 84% from three point range. He had 6 boards and 7 assists with 3 steals. Of all the current players who have scored more than 40 points against the Knicks at the Garden, Curry and Irving have attempted the fewest free throws with 7 each.
“I don’t go out there for the numbers, I just play my game,” James said. “You guys seen every phase of my game tonight, the scoring, the rebounding, the assists and defensively just trying to attack the opposing team. I never thought you could look at the box score and see somebody with 50 with a triple-double, but it’s happened.”
James finished with 52 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. He shot 51% from the field.
“Like they always say, New York is the Mecca of basketball,” Hamilton said. “I read that in Michael Jordan books my whole life and I played here in the Big East tournament, so it’s always fun to play in the Mecca of basketball.”
Hamilton shot 51% from the field and was 12 of 12 from the line. He had 2 boards and 2 assists.
“I’ve dreamed about playing well in this building and it’s overtaken of how I could ever dream about,” James said. “To get a standing ovation in the greatest basketball arena in the world, it was a dream come true for me. It’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.”
James had 8 rebounds and 10 assists, nearly a triple double. He was 11 of 16 from the line and shot 53% from the field.
“He was in a zone. We couldn’t contain him,” Knicks coach Don Chaney said of Kobe. “We tried to keep two on him, just to keep him from penetrating. He was splitting us and going by us. We were very reluctant to really challenge him.”
Kobe had 6 rebounds and 3 assists in this one. He shot 63% from the field.
Pierce shot 54% in this one and had 6 rebounds and 3 assists. I couldn’t get a highlight of Pierce’s 46. Here’s a look of a game winner Pierce hit against the Knicks and a funny fail from his teammate Nate Robinson -
”We were going to come in and do whatever it takes to get that first one,” Pierce said. ”I didn’t want to leave this building without a win.”
Pierce shot 57% from the field and had 2 boards and 3 assists.
“When a guy gets that hot, there’s nothing you can really do, other than just stay in front of him and make him take tough shots, which he did. He just hit great shots and we still got the win, though,” Raymond Felton said of Irving. “Any time a guy comes in your building and scores 41 points and he still got a loss, then you did your job.”
The Phantom of the Garden, as he was called because he played with a mask, had 5 boards and 5 assists.
D’Antoni said, “Bargnani’s 7-feet, puts it on the floor and he shoots … what are you going to do?”
Bargnani shot 66.7% from the field and had 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
With the games becoming more high scoring these days, it won’t be surprising if these records are surpassed. Perhaps this is the best way to pay homage to the Mecca of basketball, by going and ripping the Knicks with high scoring games.