{"id":1542701,"date":"2022-12-17T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-17T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1542701"},"modified":"2022-12-17T09:30:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-17T14:30:15","slug":"how-good-was-david-thompson-the-prolific-scorer-for-the-denver-nuggets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/how-good-was-david-thompson-the-prolific-scorer-for-the-denver-nuggets\/","title":{"rendered":"How Good Was David Thompson, the Prolific Scorer for the Denver Nuggets?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

David Thompson could score<\/a> with the best of them. After leading North Carolina State to a national championship in 1974, he showed off his scoring prowess in the ABA and the NBA with the Denver Nuggets. <\/a>The 6-foot-4 guard with incredible leaping ability quickly became one of the most prolific scorers in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson's career was derailed by an injury and then substance-abuse issues. He played nine professional seasons, but how good was the man known as “Skywalker?” Better yet, how good could he have been?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Thompson put up 73 points in a game against the Detroit Pistons in 1978<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"How
David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets looks to pass the ball over Jan van Breda Kolff of the New Jersey Nets during an NBA game circa 1979 at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey. | Focus on Sport\/Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

April 8, 1978, was the regular-season finale for Thompson and the Nuggets. They faced the Detroit Pistons but were already playoff bound. Thompson was in a personal battle with the legendary George Gervin<\/a> for the scoring title. According to NBA.com,<\/a> Denver coach Larry Brown asked Thompson if he “wanted to go for it,” but Thompson shrugged it off and played within the flow of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson, however, couldn't miss. He made his first eight shots from the floor en route to a 32-point quarter. He added 21 more in the second quarter, giving him 53 points at halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a six-point third quarter, Thompson closed out the game with 14 points as the Pistons outlasted the Nuggets 139-137. His stats were off the charts. Thompson made 28 of 38 shots from the floor and went 17-for-20 from the free-throw line. Gervin, however, beat him by percentage points for the scoring title after he scored 63 points in his game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson finished that season with a 27.2 points-per-game average, a career-high. He also was named an NBA All-Star for the second straight year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson was one of the best scorers in the NBA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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On this day in 1978\u2026 George Gervin (63 PTS) and David Thompson (73 PTS) each put up career-high scoring performances to close out the closest scoring title race in NBA history! #NBAVault<\/a> #NBA75<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AlGjtOmBGB<\/a><\/p>— NBA History (@NBAHistory) April 9, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>