February 27

From Hoopedia

• 1955 - Boston beats Milwaukee, 62-57, at Providence, Rhode Island in a game which sets the record for fewest total points scored by both teams since the introduction of the 24-second clock.

• 1959 - Boston Celtics star Bob Cousy (above) dishes off for what was then an NBA record 28 assists in a 173-139 win over Minneapolis, the highest scoring game in NBA history at the time. Boston’s 173 points is still the record for a non-overtime game, a mark that was matched by Phoenix in 1990. (Scott Skiles of Orlando set the NBA single-game assist record of 30 on December 30, 1990.) Cousy’s record of 19 assists in one half has stood for more almost 50 years now.

• 1961 - Hall of Famer James Worthy, named NBA Finals MVP in 1988, is born in Gastonia, North Carolina.

• 1997 - The WNBA Elite Draft adds two more players to each team in the new league. The Elite draft pool consists of players who had competed in other professional leagues, usually international leagues. Nancy Lieberman and Lynette Woodard are among the players drafted.

• 1998 - The Indiana Pacers defeat the Portland Trail Blazers, 124-59. The 65-point margin of victory is the second-largest in NBA history, exceeded only by the 68-point margin when Cleveland defeated Miami, 148-80, on December 17, 1991.

• 2002 - (Right) Mengke Bateer becomes the second player from China to play in the NBA, when he joins the Denver Nuggets and records three rebounds in 14 minutes of Denver's 110-93 loss at Golden State.

• 2008 - Rutgers's women defeat DePaul, 60-46, giving Hall of Fame coach Vivian Stringer her 800th career win.