The NBA’s 5 Greatest individual performances at Madison Square Garden
By Adam Kester
#3: Bernard King goes off at Madison Square Garden on Christmas
It doesn’t get as poetic as a New York Knick dropping 60 points at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day. That’s exactly what Bernard King did almost 37 years ago.
The 1984-85 season wasn’t the prettiest for New York, who finished the season with a 24-58 season under head coach Hubie Brown. This would mostly be known as the season that landed the Knicks the number 1 overall pick, which they would use on Patrick Ewing.
Still, in the midst of these rough times, New York still had a star scorer who would give them prolific, jaw-dropping performances, and perhaps none greater than this one on Christmas Day.
King was unguardable. A mid-range monster, Bernard King was knocking down turnaround shots and pull-ups from all angles. The Nets were constantly switching different defenders onto King but it simply didn’t matter.
He did not take a single 3-point all game.
King’s athleticism and smooth scoring ability were one of the best in the league at that time.
During that 1984-85 season, King finished the year with an average of 32.9 points per game.
On that Christmas game, he finished with 60 points and 5 assists. It was one of the most memorable individual performances in franchise history.