A Wild Start in OKC for Peja and the New Orleans Hornets
15 years ago, the formerly-named Charlotte Bobcats visited the formerly-named New Orleans Hornets in Oklahoma City, due to New Orleans being just over a year removed from Hurricane Katrina. This was also all prior to the Seattle SuperSonics becoming the OKC Thunder. Weird how many things can change in decade and a half right?
What is even weirder than looking back at these two teams facing off in OKC is what Peja Stojaković managed to do in the first 6 minutes and 24 seconds of the game. Not only did the 6’10” Croatian sniper set the new record for the most points scored in the first quarter by a New Orleans Hornet, but he was NOK’s entire offense for the first six and a half minutes of the game. Peja broke (and still holds) the record for most consecutive points scored by an individual player on a team to start the game.
First 20 Points of the Game on 5/5 FGs, 3/3 3FGs, and 4/4 FTs in 6:24 Minutes
For most players in the NBA, scoring a career high in points is the most eventful aspect of their night. Peja Stojaković scored his career high of 42 points on November 14th, 2006 against the Charlotte Bobcats and he did so while not missing a shot in the first quarter. On top of this, he shot 15/22 from the field for the game and made three times as many field goals as the four other Hornets starters combined. Peja’s performance was the biggest reason why the Hornets were able to win 94-85, despite Chris Paul not making a single shot. All of this was overshadowed by Peja’s seven minutes in heaven.
Unfortunately for New Orleans, Stojaković had his season cut very short and he was only able to play in five more games after this historic night. Just ten days after this career game, Peja injured his back against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He dealt with back spasms for the following few weeks and was eventually forced to have surgery to remove a disc fragment in his lower back, ending his 2006-2007 season. What looked like a bounce-back year for the three-time all-star was instantly derailed and he never averaged 17+ PPG again.
Luckily, Stojaković was able to have a story-book ending to his career as he ended up on the 2011 Dallas Mavericks team that won the NBA Championship. He played in 19 of the 21 playoff games and averaged 7.1 points on 37.7% from deep in 18.4 minutes per game.
