11. Mike Newlin vs. Boston Celtics, Dec. 16, 1979
Mike Newlin had a solid eight-year run with the Houston Rockets, but was always the forgotten member of the backcourt behind Calvin Murphy.
His role had diminished over his last three seasons in Houston after the Rockets had taken John Lucas with the No. 1 pick in the draft in 1976 and when the New Jersey Nets acquired Newlin in the fall of 1979, the veteran got a chance to do something he’d never done before.
Sir Charles In Charge
At age 30, Newlin was a team’s No. 1 option for the first time.
He ran with it, even as the Nets struggled coming off their first NBA playoff appearance the previous season. When the Boston Celtics came to the Rutgers Athletic Center on Dec. 16, 1979, they arrived with a 24-7 record, re-energized with the arrival of rooke Larry Bird.
The Nets, meanwhile, were just 12-19 and were 0-3 against Boston already, including a 116-79 shellacking at the RAC on Halloween night.
With Newlin setting the tone, the Nets hung around all night in a back-and-forth game, forcing the Celtics to overtime before Boston came away with the 115-112 victory.
That spoiled Newlin’s career night a bit. The veteran left-hander obliterated his previous career-high of 38 points, finishing with 52 in the loss to the Celtics. If was the first of Newlin’s four games with the Nets of at least 40 points.
That season, he topped 20 points a game for the first time in his career, averaging 20.9 to go with 4.0 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 32.2 minutes a game, shooting .460/.296/.884.