50 Fun Facts About 2011-12 NBA Season

Which team won the 2012 NBA Finals in five games, claiming a second championship and a first since 2006?

The Miami Heat lost the opener, then won four straight, and their 14 three-pointers in the clinching game tied a Finals record.

On which holiday did the lockout-delayed 2011-12 NBA regular season finally tip off with five games?

Christmas Day carried five games instead of the three first planned, and the league rebuilt the whole schedule from scratch around open arena dates.

Which undrafted guard, waived twice in December 2011, led the Knicks on a seven-game winning streak that February?

Jeremy Lin scored 38 points against the Lakers during the run and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated two weeks in a row.

Which team went 7-59 in 2011-12, finishing with the lowest winning percentage in NBA history?

The Charlotte Bobcats lost their last 23 games to finish at .106, sinking below the .110 mark that had stood as the league's worst since 1973.

Which forward won both the regular-season MVP and Finals MVP awards in 2011-12, capturing his first NBA title?

LeBron James averaged 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists in the Finals and closed the series with his first triple-double of the season.

Which All-Star point guard joined the Clippers in December 2011, days after the league blocked his trade to the Lakers?

Chris Paul steered the Clippers to a 40-26 record, then the best winning percentage in franchise history, and their first playoff berth since 2006.

Which reigning MVP tore his ACL in the final minutes of his top-seeded team's first 2012 NBA playoff game?

Derrick Rose went down late in a 103-91 win, and without him the favourites lost the series in six games to an eighth seed.

Which forward won his third straight NBA scoring title in 2011-12 and was also named All-Star Game MVP?

Kevin Durant averaged 28 points a game and became the first player since Michael Jordan to win three scoring titles in a row.

Metta World Peace, the Lakers forward suspended seven games in April 2012, was known by what name until 2011?

Ron Artest took the new name in the offseason before 2011-12, and the suspension came for an elbow to an opponent's head during a dunk celebration.

The Nets played their final season in New Jersey in 2011-12 before moving to which New York City borough?

Brooklyn had gone without a major league team since baseball's Dodgers left in 1957, and the Nets opened the new Barclays Center there in 2012.

Which Western Conference champion lost the 2012 NBA Finals in five games after winning Game 1 at home?

The Oklahoma City Thunder arrived as the second-youngest finalists in NBA history; the franchise had last reached the Finals in 1996, when it played in Seattle.

Which Cavaliers point guard, the first pick of the 2011 draft, was named the 2011-12 NBA Rookie of the Year?

Kyrie Irving took 117 of the 120 first-place votes, having already won MVP of February's Rising Stars game by making all eight of his three-pointers.

Which NBA commissioner vetoed a December 2011 trade that would have sent a star point guard to the Lakers?

David Stern had the final say because the league itself owned the Hornets, the team giving up the player, after buying out its previous owner.

Which guard broke his nose in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game yet became the event's career scoring leader that night?

Kobe Bryant scored 27 to pass Michael Jordan's total of 262 All-Star points, and was diagnosed afterwards with a concussion as well.

Which defending NBA champion was swept out of the 2012 playoffs in the first round?

The Dallas Mavericks kept only one of their six free agents after the lockout and became just the third defending champion ever swept in round one.

Mike Brown took over the Lakers for 2011-12, replacing which coach who had retired with eleven titles as a head coach?

Phil Jackson had returned to the Lakers in 2005 after a season away and added championships in 2009 and 2010 before stepping down.

Which city hosted the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, where local center Dwight Howard led all players in fan votes?

Orlando staged the game at the Amway Center, where the West won 152-149 and Howard had drawn more than 1.6 million votes.

Which guard won the 2011-12 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award, months before being traded to Houston?

James Harden averaged 16.8 points while starting only two of his 62 games, then was dealt to the Rockets when contract talks broke down.

Which guard recorded only the third triple-double in NBA All-Star Game history in February 2012?

Dwyane Wade finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, though his East side fell three points short after trailing by as many as 21.

Which team took the Eastern Conference's top seed for a second straight year by finishing 50-16 in 2011-12?

The Chicago Bulls won at a 62-win pace, their total of the year before, and took the league's overall top seed on a head-to-head tiebreaker.

Which team ran its winning streak to 20 games in the 2012 Western Conference finals, then lost four straight?

The San Antonio Spurs had swept their first two playoff series and had just won 50 games for a 13th season running, a new NBA record.

Which eighth seed knocked out the East's top-seeded team in the first round of the 2012 NBA playoffs?

The Philadelphia 76ers were only the fifth eighth seed to beat a number one, and the six-game win was the club's first playoff series victory since 2003.

Which Knicks center won the 2011-12 Defensive Player of the Year award in his first season in New York?

Tyson Chandler was the first Knicks player ever to win the award, yet he made only the All-Defensive Second Team that same year.

Which 2011-12 NBA Coach of the Year rested Tim Duncan one night in March and listed the reason as 'Old'?

Gregg Popovich won the award for the second time, and his one-word injury report came at the end of three games in three nights.

Which Knicks head coach resigned in March 2012 after a six-game losing streak, handing the job to an assistant?

Mike D'Antoni had coached the Knicks since 2008, and under Mike Woodson, his former assistant, the team closed the season 18-6.

What nickname did the 2011-12 Clippers of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan earn for their above-the-rim style?

Lob City grew out of a remark Griffin made at media day as news broke of the trade for a star point guard, whose lob passes set up the pair's alley-oop dunks.

Which Spanish point guard, drafted in 2009, finally made his NBA debut with Minnesota in December 2011?

Ricky Rubio was pushing for Rookie of the Year until he tore knee ligaments in March, and he still finished second in the voting.

Which future Finals MVP, picked 15th in the 2011 NBA draft, was traded that same night for guard George Hill?

Kawhi Leonard was chosen by Indiana and swapped before he had played a game, then made the All-Rookie First Team with his new club.

Dwight Howard attempted 39 free throws in a January 2012 game, breaking which player's regular-season record from 1962?

Wilt Chamberlain had taken 34 in one game; Howard, fouled on purpose all night, made 21 of his 39 and finished with 45 points and 23 rebounds.

Which veteran point guard served as president of the players' union during the 2011 NBA lockout?

Derek Fisher had led the union since 2006 and bargained alongside its director, Billy Hunter; the Lakers traded him to Houston in midseason.

Which point guard led the NBA with 11.7 assists a game in 2011-12 and was named an All-Star injury replacement?

Rajon Rondo also led the league with six triple-doubles, and he got his All-Star call when Joe Johnson was ruled out.

Which Timberwolves power forward won the 2012 Three-Point Contest and set a franchise record with a 51-point game?

Kevin Love won the contest in a tie-breaking final round, and his 51 points came a month later in a double-overtime defeat.

Which three-time All-Star guard for the Trail Blazers retired in December 2011 with a degenerative knee condition?

Brandon Roy stepped away after only five seasons, then tried a comeback with Minnesota a year later that lasted just five games.

Which reserve made seven three-pointers in the title-clinching Game 5 of the 2012 NBA Finals?

Mike Miller had not hit a single three in the first four games, and his seven set a Finals record for a player coming off the bench.

Which NFL team's owner agreed in April 2012 to buy the league-owned Hornets from the NBA for $338 million?

The New Orleans Saints' owner, Tom Benson, had bought his football team back in 1985, and his new basketball club was later renamed the Pelicans.

Which Pacers president was named 2011-12 Executive of the Year, adding it to his MVP and Coach of the Year awards?

Larry Bird is the only person to win all three honours, and his Pacers had gone 42-24 to take the third seed in the East.

Which former video coordinator coached the 2012 NBA champions in only his fourth season as a head coach?

Erik Spoelstra joined the club in 1995 and became the first Asian American head coach to win a title in the four major North American leagues.

Which Suns point guard passed Oscar Robertson for fifth on the NBA's career assists list in April 2012?

Steve Nash reached 9,888 assists that night, near the close of what proved his last season in Phoenix before a move to the Lakers.

Which veteran point guard passed Michael Jordan for second on the NBA's career steals list in February 2012?

Jason Kidd logged career steal number 2,515 to move ahead, and in May he collected his first NBA Sportsmanship Award.

Which second-year head coach became the fastest in NBA history to reach 100 wins, doing so in March 2012?

Tom Thibodeau needed only 130 games, one fewer than Avery Johnson's previous record, a year after winning Coach of the Year as a rookie boss.

Which Magic forward won the 2011-12 Most Improved Player award while leading the NBA in three-pointers made?

Ryan Anderson averaged 16.1 points and 7.7 rebounds in 61 games, and he also ranked seventh in the league in free throw percentage.

Which reigning Sixth Man of the Year did the Lakers trade away in December 2011, days after a vetoed three-team deal?

Lamar Odom had been included in the blocked deal, and the Lakers got back only a first-round pick and an $8.9 million trade exception.

Which All-Star big man missed parts of two 2012 playoff series with an abdominal strain before winning the title?

Chris Bosh was hurt in the opener of the second round, came back for Game 5 of the conference finals and scored 24 points in the title clincher.

Which Congo-born forward led the NBA in blocks per game in 2011-12 while starting every game of the shortened season?

Serge Ibaka averaged 3.6 blocks a game, and that February he posted a triple-double on a night when two teammates scored 51 and 40 points.

Which 5-foot-9 guard, the 60th and final pick of the 2011 NBA draft, made the All-Rookie Second Team with Sacramento?

Isaiah Thomas finished seventh in Rookie of the Year voting and went on to become a two-time All-Star with the Celtics.

Which team earned home-court advantage in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history in 2012?

The Memphis Grizzlies set a club record by winning 62 percent of their games, yet lost their first-round series to the Clippers in seven.

Which team won the NBA's first quadruple-overtime game since 1997, a 139-133 home victory in March 2012?

The Atlanta Hawks outlasted Utah at Philips Arena; the league had not seen four overtimes since Phoenix edged Portland 140-139.

Which team led the NBA in points per game in 2011-12, its first full season without Carmelo Anthony?

The Denver Nuggets averaged 104.1 points and also led the league in assists, finishing 38-28 before a seven-game playoff loss to the Lakers.

Which Rockets center, the first pick of the 2002 NBA draft, announced his retirement in July 2011 during the lockout?

Yao Ming made the announcement in Shanghai after years of foot and ankle injuries, and it drew over 1.2 million comments on a Chinese social network.

Which former number one draft pick did the Trail Blazers waive in March 2012 after over two years out injured?

Greg Oden, taken first in 2007, was released to clear roster space on the same day the Trail Blazers fired coach Nate McMillan.