November 27, 1996: A pair of arch-rivals play each other in the NBA. It turns out to be a historic game.
The Utah Jazz were hosting the Denver Nuggets, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Jazz came in having won 10 of their 1st 12 games of the season, but the Nugs were struggling, having lost 10 of their 1st 15. Nevertheless, the Nugs led 37-19 at the end of the 1st quarter. Late in the 2nd quarter, it was 70-34 Denver. The Jazz trailed by 36 points, before closing it to 70-36 at the half.
With 9 minutes left in the 3rd, the Nuggets still led 74-41. But the Jazz scored the next 16 points, to close to 74-57 with 4:25 left in the 3rd. By the end of the quarter, it was 85-72 Denver. Still a ways to go, but now, victory for Utah looked plausible.
Over the 1st 1:35 of the 4th quarter, the Jazz went on a 16-3 run to get within 2 points. With 4:41 left in regulation, Chris Morris hit a 3-point shot to tie the game at 91. With 3:02 to go, Jeff Hornacek made 2 free throws to give the Jazz their 1st lead, 95-94.
The Nuggets weren't done, and Bryant Stith hit a 3-pointer with 1 minute left to make it 101-100 Denver. But a Hornacek 3-pointer gave the Jazz the lead again, and they never gave it up. Final score: Jazz 107, Nuggets 103. It remains the biggest come-from-behind win, meaning also the biggest blown lead, in NBA history.
Stith scored 31 points for the Nuggets. Karl Malone had 31 points and 17 rebounds for the Jazz, Hornacek 29 points, John Stockton only 9 points but 10 assists.
The Nuggets finished the season 21-61, well out of the Playoffs. The Jazz went on to win the NBA Western Conference title, but lost the NBA Finals to the Chicago Bulls in 6 games.
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November 27, 1996 was a Wednesday. There were 9 other games played in the NBA that night:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Phoenix Suns, 99-77 the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 110-94 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks, 79-75 at the Orlando Arena.
* The Toronto Raptors beat the Charlotte Hornets, 92-88 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 87-78 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 92-75 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 106-98 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 120-109 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
* And the Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 98-82 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
Baseball was in the off-season. Football was in midweek. There were 11 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* The New York Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The New Jersey Devils beat the Dallas Stars, 3-2 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Hartford Whalers, 6-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The Ottawa Senators beat the Washington Capitals, 2-1 at the US Airways Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-0 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.
* The Montreal Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 2-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-1 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
* The San Jose Sharks beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).
* And the Boston Bruins, the Calgary Flames, the Phoenix Coyotes were not scheduled.
Also, actress Hailey Bieber, daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and wife of singer Justin Bieber, was born on this day.
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