Lowest-Scoring NBA Games
In the category negative NBA records, here you are the Top 20 matches with the lowest-scoring record
We have already seen the Top 20 Highest-scoring games. Now it’s time to talk about the negative side of the record.
Because of bad shooting percentages and very (too) conservative tactics, here you are the 20 lowest-scoring games in the NBA history.
NBA Lowest-Scoring Record
On November 22, 1950, the Fort Wayne Pistons defeated the reigning champions of the Minneapolis Lakers for 19 to 18, in the match that would go down in history as the game with the lowest-scoring (37 combined points).
At that time, those Lakers were too strong for the Pistons; coach Murray Mendenhall, then, devised a strategy: if they had the ball possession for the entire time, Minneapolis wouldn’t have had a chance to score.
If this is basketball, I don’t want to be a part of this game anymore. Play like that will kill professional basketball
John Kundla, Minneapolis Lakers’ coach
Only four years later, in 1954, the NBA instituted the 24-second clock thanks to an intuition by Daniel Biasone, the Syracuse Nationals‘ owner.
NBA Playoff Lowest-Scoring Record
The NBA Playoff lowest-scoring match was played on March 30, 1948 between Philadelphia Warriors and St. Louis Bombers and ended with the score of 51 to 56.
Unlike the match between Pistons and Lakers, in this historical game the low score was determined by the many missed shots: the percentage realized was horrible, even lower than 20%.
The Bombers scored only 20 out of 76 shots (26.3%). The Warriors a paltry 20 out of 113 from the field (17.7%)
NBA Lowest-Scoring Matches List
| # | Match | Total points | Date | RS/PO |
| 1 | Minneapolis Lakers 18-19 Fort Wayne Pistons | 37 | November 22, 1950 | RS |
| 2 | Detroit Falcons 33-50 Washington Capitols | 83 | November 2, 1946 | RS |
| 3 | Boston Celtics 47-38 Washington Capitols | 85 | January 16, 1947 | RS |
| 4 | Washington Capitols 49-40 Pittsburgh Ironmen | 89 | November 30, 1946 | RS |
| 5 | Pittsburgh Ironmen 44-46 Boston Celtics | 90 | December 2, 1946 | RS |
| 6 | Boston Celtics 48-43 Pittsburgh Ironmen | 91 | January 23, 1946 | RS |
| 7 | St Louis Bombers 46-50 Toronto Huskies | 96 | December 15, 1946 | RS |
| Cleveland Rebels 49-47 Detroit Falcons | 96 | December 1, 1946 | RS | |
| 9 | Boston Celtics 49-48 New York Knicks | 97 | February 6, 1947 | RS |
| 10 | New York Knicks 46-52 Boston Celtics | 98 | January 25, 1947 | RS |
| 11 | Philadelphia Warriors 53-46 Pittsburgh Ironmen | 99 | December 26, 1946 | RS |
| 12 | Detroit Falcons 54-46 Boston Celtics | 100 | November 23, 1946 | RS |
| Detroit Falcons 48-52 Toronto Huskies | 100 | December 29, 1946 | RS | |
| St Louis Bombers 51-49 New York Knicks | 100 | March 20, 1947 | RS | |
| St Louis Bombers 60-40 Toronto Huskies | 100 | March 23, 1947 | RS | |
| 16 | Detroit Falcons 49-53 St Louis Bombers | 102 | November 5, 1946 | RS |
| Boston Celtics 53-49 Toronto Huskies | 102 | November 16, 1946 | RS | |
| Pittsburgh Ironmen 54-48 Toronto Huskies | 102 | November 18, 1946 | RS | |
| Philadelphia Warriors 58-44 Cleveland Rebels | 102 | December 19, 1946 | RS | |
| Philadelphia Warriors 59-43 Boston Celtics | 102 | January 21, 1947 | RS | |
| Washington Capitols 54-48 Chicago Stags | 102 | January 31, 1948 | RS | |
| Indianapolis Olympians 52-50 Milwaukee Hawks | 102 | March 13, 1953 | RS |